A devil in looks a brother of heart
by Elysees
Summary: Hiruma acts like a devil. But in reality he's a caring and protective older brother. When Hiruma's father beats up his little brother, Shiro, He takes his brother and leaves immediately! But the heavy burdens and conflicts that follows drives the devil quarterback into stress and complete exhaustion and Hiruma learns to rely more on all his friends that surrounds him.
1. Chapter 1

**My first Eyeshield 21 fanfiction! Very unlike me this story doesn't include romance, only friends and family :) The rating is because of bad language. Please enjoy! **

**Ups.. Almost forgot!  
Disclaimer: I don't own blah blah blaahh.. **

**Okay, NOW ENJOY! **

**Abuse:**

It was a normal, beautiful and hot spring day. The birds were singing and the students of Deimon high were on their way home from school, everyone except the school's football team, who was in the middle of their daily practice, after school.

"YA-HAA! Faster fucking chibis!" Hiruma yelled to Sena and Monta who was busy running laps around the court. Hiruma fired a long series of gunshots from his loyal M95 machinegun, making said boys yelp and pick up their pace. Mamori was quickly there to scold him.

"Hiruma! Stop picking on Sena!"

"Shut up fucking manager." Was all Hiruma said as he rested his M95 back against his shoulder and blew another gum bubble. He looked over the field and watched everyone as they trained hard. Kurita, the three Haa-brothers and Komusubi was practicing block, Musashi kicking, Sena and Monta run and Hiruma was currently training passing and retrieving with Taki and Yukimitsu.

"Fucking baldly! That pass was perfect, how could you not catch it?" Hiruma yelled and once again fired with his gun when Yukimitsu dropped the ball.

"Ahh! S-Sorry Hiruma-san!" Yukimitsu stammered

"Sorry isn't going to bring us to the Christmas Bowl! When I throw a pass you better catch it!" More gun shots

"Ihh! I-I will Hiruma-san!"

Hiruma paused his shooting looked at his cellphone. _'Damn, it's already this late.' _

"Alright guys! Everyone to the showers! YA-HA!"

Everyone hurried inside the clubhouse to shower and change, closely followed by Hiruma. Musashi caught up to Hiruma and padded him on the shoulder.

"They're improving a lot huh? You should be proud of yourself. Much of their strength is a result of your training after all." Musashi said and smiled at his long term friend.

"There's still a long way to go. We aren't nearly good enough to win the Christmas Bowl yet." Was Hiruma's only response. Musashi chuckled a little, this was so typical Hiruma. He would always refuse to accept any credit.

"Whatever you say." Said Musashi and started to change.

The sun was already about to set when the team was done showering and change. Hiruma had tossed his sports bag over his shoulder and was on his way home when he heard his name called from behind.

"Hiruma! The whole team is going to Suki's meathouse to have dinner, want to join us?" Kurita asked with Musashi at his side. Behind them stood the rest of the team and chatted, waiting to go to dinner together.

Hiruma blinked and popped his gum bubble before answering.

"No, I can't. I have other things to do." He said simply.

"Come on, it's Friday. What is so important that it can't wait until tomorrow?" Musashi now said.

"That's none of your fucking business old man, I said I'm busy. You guys go on ahead, I have to go now." With that said Hiruma turned and started walking home, leaving the rest of the team to go on without him.

As he walked Hiruma closed his eyes and felt the wind in his hair. In reality he wished he didn't have to go home and that he could have joined his friends at dinner. But he couldn't… He had to go home and face his father.. Alcoholic father. Hiruma wasn't scared of him, not one bit. His father never dared to challenge him in any way, he was way stronger than that old man both physical and mentally, and he knew it. But it was a completely different matter with Shiro, Hiruma's little brother. Not many know Hiruma have a little brother, actually no one beside Musashi and Kurita.

8 years ago, when Hiruma had been 10 and Shiro 2, their mother had died from cancer. That was when their father had started drinking and has ever since, but it had gotten a lot worse with the years. Hiruma is the only one to take care of Shiro now. Their father doesn't even have a job so it's also Hiruma who makes sure they have money to pay the bills and his brother's and his own school funds and so on.

Since Shiro still only goes to elementaryschool and Hiruma always trains after school, Shiro have to stay home alone with their father in the weekdays, and Hiruma always fears something will happen to his little brother when he isn't there to protect him. When Hiruma traveled to Las Vegas during the death march, he had got Musashi to take care of him, since he hadn't joined the team at that time. His father never cared where his kids were anyway.

But no one, not even Kurita or Musashi knew that he had an alcoholic father, and Hiruma planned on keeping it that way.

Hiruma wasn't far from home now. He had stopped by the local store to buy a bag of those jelly beans he knew his brother liked so much.

Just as Hiruma was about to walk down the pathway to his house he heard a loud crash and his father yelling. _'Shit!'_ was all Hiruma could think as he dropped his sports bag and ran to the door.

The moment he walked inside he could hear his father's angry and slurred voice that proved that he had been drinking again.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT.. COME BACK HERE AND *hic* TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!"

And then he heard the frightened voice of his little brother.

"I-I'm sorry father! I promise I'll never do it again!"

Hiruma stormed into the house and into the living room where the noise came from.

"Shiro!" He called. Hiruma walked into the living room that was overflowing with empty beer cans and chipsbags. And in the corner he saw Shiro, who had tears in his eyes, a big bruise forming on his cheek and blood running from his split lip. Standing only a few feet away from Shiro was their father who had his fist clenched, ready to land another punch.

"Nii-san!" Shiro yelled in relief and ran over to Hiruma.

Hiruma immediately kneeled down and allowed his brother to throw his arms around his neck and placed his own hand on Shiro's head in a comforting manner as the small boy sobbed against his shoulder.

"Shh.. It's okay Shiro, I'm here he won't hurt you anymore I promise." Hiruma whispered comforting in Shiro's ear before he looked up and glared evilly up at their father, who had opened another can of beer and looked bored at his two sons.

Hiruma stood up, never stopping glaring at the man before him. Shiro took a grip on his black t-shirt and pressed himself close to his big brother.

"What the hell do you think you're doing old man?" Hiruma growled angrily.

"I just taught the brat a lesson he deserved. The little shithead refused to go get me a pack of beers."

"He's 10 you alcoholic piece of shit! No one is going to sell beer to 10 year old boy!"

"That's just your excuse! Excuses, excuses! That's the only thing you two are good at!"

"And you think that gives you the fucking right to hit him you son of a bitch?"

"Tch! That low life weakling needs to learn his place and how to take a proper beating! But anyway now that you're here you go get me a pack!"

"Like fuck I will! You can sit here and rot up in your own filth and get your own damn beers from now on old man! I wonder how long you'll last when I'm not here to earn money for your beloved beers and fucking junkfood!" Hiruma yelled and picked Shiro up in his arms.

"Come Shiro, let us get our things packed and leave this fucking old fat man to do as he pleases."

Shiro nodded and leaned against Hiruma as they headed to the stairs since their rooms were upstairs.

"HA! YOU THINK I NEED YOU *hic* YOU BLEACH FAG? GO ON! RUN AWAY, I COULDN'T CARE LESS!"

Hiruma took Shiro upstairs and went into the bathroom where Hiruma placed his brother on the toilet before he opened the cabinet to pull out the first aid kit. He took out a piece of cotton and dripped a few drops of antiseptic on it and started to clean the small wound on Shiro's lip. A few tears still rolled down the young boys cheeks. Hiruma gently wiped them away with his thump.

"There Shiro, a big boy like you doesn't still cry does he?" Hiruma said in a gentle voice and smiled softly.

Shiro shook his head and quickly wiped away the last tears with his sleeve.

"I'm sorry nii-san. But I was really scared. I didn't mean to make him angry, I just said that I wasn't old enough to buy beer and he got really mad and started hitting me…" Shiro said with a low voice and sniffed.

Hiruma ruffled up his brother's short black hair.

"I know Shiro, I know. I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you, I was training with the team."

"It's okay nii-san. It wasn't your fault. I know how important football is to you. Besides I know you'll always be here when I need you, you always tell me that, and you never lie." Shiro said and smiled a small smile to his older brother.

Hiruma smiled back and ruffled his brother's hair again.

"That's my little warrior." He said, making Shiro laugh a little.

"Come on, we better start packing our things." Hiruma then said and placed the first aid kit back in the cabinet.

"Nii-san, are we really leaving?" Shiro asked his voice slightly hopeful.

"You bet we are. I'm never leaving you alone with that man again. I won't give him another chance to hurt you."

"But where will we go?"

"Don't you worry about that, your nii-san will take care of it all."

Shiro did as he was told and jumped down from the toilet to go start packing. When he was goon Hiruma pulled out his cellphone. _'I would have preferred to keep them out of this, but guess I don't have a choice anymore.'_

He flipped through the names till he found the one he was looking for and called. The phone beeped a few times when it finally got picked up and the familiar voice from the other end reached his ears.

"_Musashi speaking"_

"Yo, it's me"

"_Hiruma? I thought you were busy?"_

"Listen Musashi.. I can't really explain it all now, but I need to ask you a favor."

"_Sure,_ _what's up? Is everything alright?" _Musashi was starting to worry just slightly. It wasn't like Hiruma to sound _this _serious.

Hiruma sighed and ran his hand through his blond hair.

"No it isn't.. Listen, I promise I will tell you guys everything later. I know this is a lot to ask, but is it possible for me and Shiro to stay at your place for a while?"

Musashi didn't answer right away.

"_Oh.. Um.. Yeah.. Of cause you can. Should I come and pick you guys up?"_

"It would be a great help if you did."

"_Okay, I'll be there in half an hour."_

"And old man."

"_Hmm?"_

"Don't tell anyone except Kurita, got it?"

"_Sure, if you say so Hiruma. See ya in a while ok?" _Musashi sounded optimistic in the phone. He wasn't an idiot, he was sure something bad had happened or Hiruma wouldn't be so serious or be asking for favors. Musashi just wanted his friend to know that he could count on him.

Despite himself Hiruma smiled slightly, he knew he could count on Musashi and Kurita.

"See ya old man." He said and hung up, before he also went to his room and started packing.

**25 minutes later:**

Hiruma walked into his brother's room.

"Shiro are you ready?" Hiruma asked.

"Yes nii-san" Shiro answered and threw the two last shirts down his bag and lifted it up on his shoulder. Hiruma had picked up his bag from outside and had also packed the most necessary things.

"Then come. Musashi is coming to pick us up in 5 minutes. We're staying at his place a few days"

Shiro's eyes lighted up a little. He really liked Musashi. Last time he had stayed with him, while Hiruma had been in Las Vegas, Musashi had always played football with him after work and cooked dinner for him and told him the funniest stories about what he and his nii-san had done together.

Hiruma and Shiro walked downstairs only to see their father waiting for them at the bottom with his arms crossed and a snarl on his face. Hiruma pushed Shiro behind him and walked down till he stood face to face with the man.

"So you're really leaving, you poor excuses of sons?" The man growled.

"What are you gonna do about fucking old man?" Hiruma snarled back.

Hiruma's father sighed.

"Tch.. Had I known I would get such lousy cowards for sons I never would have fucked your mother."

Right there Hiruma's eyes lighted up with fury and he gripped the collar of his father's shirt and lifted him two centimeters of the ground.

"Don't you _ever_ talk about our mother like that again old man!" Hiruma snarled angrily. He could feel Shiro cling tighter to him.

Just then a honk sounded from outside the door, signaling Musashi had arrived. Hiruma glared one final time at his father, satisfied with the scared face he was making. Hiruma then dropped his father down and laid his arm around his brother to guide him outside. Halfway down the pathway their father shouted out the door.

"THAT'S RIGHT! LEAVE, I'M BETTER OF WITHOUT YOU ANYWAY!" And then slammed the door shut.

Musashi stepped out of the truck. The moment Shiro saw him he greeted happily.

"Uncle Musashi!"

Musashi smiled and waved to him.

"Hey little champ, nice seeing you. Let me put this in the back for you." He said and took Shiro's bag.

"Shiro go sit in the backseat." Hiruma said and padded his brother's back.

"Okay nii-san." And Shiro did as he was told, and crawled into the backseat of the truck.

Hiruma walked over to place his own bag in the back of the car.

"Hey, thanks for coming so fast." He said, never looking Musashi in the eyes.

"Don't mention it. Kurita is waiting for us at home."

"What about the others?"

"They don't know anything. Not yet at least."

"Good. Then let's go."

Hiruma and Musashi sat on the front seats and Musashi drove them all to his home.

When they arrived at the house, Kurita was immediately there.

"Hiruma-kun! Shiro-kun! You're alright I was so worried!" Kurita cried and hugged them both.

"Hi Kurita-san." Shiro said and smiled.

"Fucking fatty! Let go before you crush us!"

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm just so relieved that you guys ar.. Eh.. Shiro-kun! You're injured!" Kurita then exclaimed and pointed at his face, indicating where Shiro's wound and bruise were.

"It's nothing special, really." Shiro said and rubbed his cheek.

"But what happ.."

"Leave it for now fatty. I'll tell you later."

"Oh.. Alright then." Kurita said, but still worried about the young boy.

"Shiro-kun you look very tired." Kurita then said.

Shiro nodded slightly and tried to hold back a yawn, but being quite unsuccessful, and rubbed one of his eyes with the palm of his hand.

"Come on Shiro, you should get some sleep." Hiruma said and took his brother's bag and then led him to the guests' room where he knew they would be staying. Before going down the hall Hiruma turned to Musashi and Kurita.

"I'll be back in a moment." He said. They both nodded as answer.

When Shiro was tugged under the blankets Hiruma sat on the edge of the bed.

"You alright Shiro?" He whispered gently. Shiro was already close to falling asleep.

Shiro nodded.

"Yeah, I only have a light headache."

"You want me to get you an aspirin?"

Shiro shook his head.

"No thanks nii-san. It's nothing I can't handle." Shiro said and smiled.

"Alright then. If there is anything tonight then you just wake me up alright?" Hiruma was just about to get up.

"Nii-san?"

"Yes Shiro?" He sat back down again.

"What are we going to do now? I mean, now that we don't live with father anymore?"

Hiruma looked at his brother with sympatric eyes. Shiro had always been very mature for his age. He had to be with a father like theirs. Even now at the edge of sleep his younger brother was thinking so rationally, worried what would become of them. But Hiruma didn't want him to worry about those things. He would get everything back in order, it would all be alright now, he was certain of it.

"I don't know yet. But don't you worry. Your nii-san will always look after you alright. Things are going to be much better from now on. I promise."

Shiro smiled.

"Alright nii-san, I know it's true when you say so."

"That's my little warrior." Hiruma said.

"Goodnight nii-san." Shiro said and drifted into dreamland.

Hiruma stood and turned off the night lamp and walked to the door.

"Goodnight Shiro." He whispered before closing the door.

Hiruma walked to the living room where Musashi and Kurita were sitting waiting for him. Hiruma pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Hiruma-kun, I made some tea." Kurita said and smiled as he pushed a steaming cup of the over to Hiruma.

Hiruma accepted the cup and took a sip.

"Thanks."

"Well then, don't you think it's about time we get an explanation then?" Musashi then said, waiting patiently.

Hiruma sighed. He really did owe them a good reason for all of this. And so be began telling everything that had happened.

**Yay! Chapter 1 done! :D**

**Aww.. Hiruma really do have a good heart. I really like the thought of Hiruma as a protective older brother :)**

**Please review tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty.. It has been quite a while huh? Yeah I'm sorry for this late update, but hey better late than never right? I'll try to update faster this time ;) Hope you'll enjoy this chapter**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill I'm sure, I still don't own Eyeshield 21 or any of the characters and make no profit of this story. **

**It' not always easy:**

Hiruma had now told his two best friends everything there was to tell. Musashi sat with his chin resting on his folded hands while taking in all the new information he had just learned. Kurita sat with teary eyes and looked sympatric at Hiruma, who sat leaned back in his chair and blew a gumbubble. Finally Kurita broke the silence.

"B-But Hiruma-kun, why didn't you come to us for help sooner?"

Hiruma popped his bubble before he spoke.

"I didn't want anyone to get involved. I've always been able to protect Shiro by myself. I didn't think my fucking old man would actually sink so low that he would hit him. The point now is that I won't allow my old man to hurt him again." Hiruma ran his hand through his blonde spikes and sighed.

"Listen, I just need a couple of days to set things straight. And while I do I don't want anyone from the team to know any of this!"

"But Hiruma-kun.." Kurita was about to protest but was stopped by Musashi.

"Don't Kurita. I understand Hiruma's intentions for not telling us sooner." Musashi paused and looked at Hiruma with understanding eyes. "The most important thing is that he is aware of his situation and he came to us for help. You guys can stay here as long as you like Hiruma, but you can't keep this a secret forever, you know that."

Hiruma sighed frustrated. "I know old man, but I fucking need to get things right before I can deal with those guys."

Musashi and Kurita both nodded in understanding.

"So what are you and Shiro going to do know Hiruma-kun? I mean you guys don't have anywhere to live now." Kurita said.

Hiruma for the first time that evening smirked.

"Kekeke..Tomorrow I'll be paying one of the school seniors, Kabuto, a little 'visit'" Hiruma chuckled as he pulled up his dreaded black notebook.

"I've heard he has put his apartment up for sale. I bet he won't mind letting me have it free of charge after I've had a little talk with him."

Musashi and Kurita swat dropped, well Hiruma was Hiruma after all. The blond devil laid his notebook back and stretched his long lean arms over his head.

"I'm going to bed." He said and stood up. Before he left he turned around

"Old man, I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning I need you to keep an eye on Shiro for me while I'm gone."

"Sure thing, don't worry about it."

Hiruma nodded before turning once again and walked into the guestroom where his brother already was sleeping soundly. Hiruma silently pulled off his T-shirt and jeans before pulling on a pair of lose fitting sweatpants. He looked one final time at his sleeping brother's calm face and slow breathing and smiled, before he also tugged under the blankets and fell asleep.

**The next day**

Shiro woke up when the smell of bacon and eggs reached his nose. He sat up in bed and felt how hungry he actually was. He looked over at the bed opposite to his own, but his nii-san was nowhere to be seen. '_Maybe he's already in the kitchen having breakfast_' Shiro thought. He jumped out of bed and pulled on some clean clothes and walked out to the kitchen.

"Morning champ, I made you some breakfast." Musashi said from his place in front of the stove when he saw Shiro come in.

Shiro sat at the table and looked around, but Hiruma wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Hey, uncle Musashi, Where's nii-san?" Shiro asked when Musashi placed a plate full of bacon and eggs and a glass of juice in front of him.

Musashi smiled and ruffled the boy's black hair.

"He just went on a small errand. He'll be back later, don't you worry."

"Oh.. Okay." Shiro said, trying not to sound too disappointed. He had really hoped Hiruma had been here when he woke up, but he couldn't blame his big brother. He properly had a lot to do now that they finally left their house. '_I wonder what nii-san's doing_' Shiro thought and took the first sip of his juice.

**Meanwhile with Hiruma:**

"Kekeke, that was almost too easy." Hiruma laughed at he was swinging with the keys to his and Shiro's new apartment. Blackmailing Kabuto had showed off to be a great success, but Hiruma had of cause already figured that much, nobody would ever overcome him and his black notebook. Hiruma couldn't stop another devilish laugh as he recalled how absolutely frightened Kabuto had looked when he had blackmailed him out of this world. The senior student had particularly cried when he allowed Hiruma to sign the deal, free of charge of cause, and handed over his keys. Hiruma was satisfied. He hadn't been this satisfied with blackmail since that time he got the whole Chameleons team as his servants. The apartment Hiruma now was the rightful owner of was perfect! It was fairly big with a big living + dining room, a small kitchen, two medium seized bedrooms and big bathroom with both tub and shower. More than enough room for both Shiro and him. Un top of that the apartment wasn't very far from either Shiro's elementaryschool or Deimon high school.

But there was still much that needed to be done before he could relax. He needed to get everything settled as fast as possible so he and Shiro should be able to start up school again before when the weekend ended. And not to forget that Hiruma still had a whole team that counted on him to lead them to the Christmas Bowl. There was absolutely no time to waste!

Hiruma pulled out a new piece of mint gum and popped it into his mouth. Next step was to get their place set up with new furniture and other necessaries. _'Better get to work' _Hiruma thought and started to list everything he and Shiro would need in their new home in his head.

**Musashi's place:**

The sun was slowly setting and the hot spring air was starting to cool slightly. Shiro was currently standing in the grassfield, just behind Musashi's house, practicing his passes. He threw the football in his hand and once again landed it perfectly in the basket about 30 meters away. Shiro ran to pick it up and return to his spot only to find Musashi standing there waiting for him with a wide smile on his face.

When Shiro reached him Musashi pulled out Shiro's jacket and placed it on the young boy's shoulders for him to pull on himself.

"You're getting really good, you know that?" Musashi said and crossed his arms over his broad chest, still with a smile on his face.

Shiro looked up and returned the smile.

"Thanks uncle Musashi! But I'm still not as good as nii-san though."

Musashi kneeled down so he could better talk with Shiro face to face.

"Don't worry, as fast as you're improving you definitely will some day." He said confident.

Shiro nodded and smiled widely.

"Yup! I'm going to practice hard every day until I'm as good a quarterback as nii-san!" Shiro said happily and clutched the football, Hiruma had given him on his 8 birthday, tighter to his chest.

"So you want to be a quarterback like your brother huh?" Musashi said with a smile. "You know, I still believe I could've made a great kicker out of you with those legs of yours!" Musashi said and poked Shiro's right leg to clarify his point and let out a small laugh.

Shiro laughed too when he heard the unmistakable voice behind him.

"Don't give him any stupid ideas, fucking old man. My brother is far too clever to waste on a position that only relies on such a simple ability as kicking. He was born to become a quarterback, just like his nii-san." Hiruma said as he walked towards the pair.

"Nii-san! Your back!" Shiro exclaimed happily and ran over to greet his brother.

Hiruma accepted the hug and smiled when he saw Shiro holding the football he had given him a couple of years ago.

"I can see you've practiced your pass." Hiruma stated as he also eyed the basket a few meters away.

Shiro let go of Hiruma and smiled.

"Hai! Because you told me that precision is the most important thing for a quarterback, right nii-san?"

Hiruma's smile widened a little further. He had never in his life pushed Shiro to play American football, or tried to convince him to aim for quarterback as himself. Shiro had taken up football by himself, because he wanted to play and because he enjoyed it. Hiruma never told him to practice because he believed his brother should do so on his own if he wanted to get better and not because he should feel like it was his duty if Hiruma told him to. But that wasn't a problem at all. Shiro roughly practiced 2 – 3 hours, on his own accord, every day. Hiruma had actually needed to go out and tell his brother to call it a day many times, before he would wear his own body out from training so hard. Hiruma also joined him in his practice whenever he could and gave him lots of tips and tricks to help his brother improve his already impressive skills. Shiro was by far the best player when they played flag football in his own school and everyone wanted to be on his team whenever they played. Shiro had already developed a great strategic mind for someone at his age and his plays and strategies had led his teams to victory many a times. Hiruma couldn't be more proud of him.

"That's right. So how is it going?" Hiruma asked, interested in how much Shiro had improved. It had been quite a while since he had the time to watch and train with him.

"I hit the basket 8 out of 10 times." Shiro said proudly.

Hiruma smiled and ruffled Shiro's hair.

"That's great, when you are able to hit it 10 out of 10 times we should try to increase the distance to 40 meters." Hiruma suggested.

Shiro nodded eagerly!

"Yes nii-san. I'll keep training hard so I'll be able to do so by the end of this week." Shiro said and gave his older brother the thumbs up.

Hiruma chuckled. Shiro always sat goals for himself to reach. Hiruma still couldn't recall a time he hadn't succeeded in reaching them and if he knew his brother right, he would properly already have it down before Wednesday.

Hiruma slipped his shoulderbag off and placed it on the ground. Even though he felt exhausted after an extraordinary long day, with arranging and planning Shiro's and his new life without their father, he wanted to spend some time with his little brother. They still had about an hour of light before they would have to go inside.

"You do pretty well with sill standing objects but what about moving?" Hiruma said with a grin and stated to run down the field.

Shiro immediately understood and smiled widely while took his position to throw a pass to Hiruma.

"Nii-san, slant!" Shiro yelled, indicating the route of the pass he intended to throw.

Musashi watched joyfully from the sideline while the two brothers practiced. He chuckled and made his way back into the house to prepare dinner. It was nice to have some life in the house for once.

**Next day:**

Hiruma got up early in the morning, ignoring the dark circles that was slowly forming under his eyes. He had been up most of the night to work out the new trainingprograms for each of the team member on the Devil Bats. Normally Doburoku took care of this, but as team captain and quarterback Hiruma always wanted to go through the programs himself to make sure every player was prepared and trained the best way possible, it was his responsibility. He had planned to do it yesterday, but for obviously reasons that had been impossible. Therefore he had used up most of the night to finish in time.

As he stood up from the bed, Hiruma ignored his body's strong desire for more sleep. He had to go make sure the truck with all their new furniture, which he had ordered and bought yesterday (with a large discount after a little 'talk' with the shopmanager) would be delivered and arranged properly into their new home. He wanted to move out there with Shiro as soon as possible. He knew very well that Musashi wouldn't mind having them stay with him as long as they liked, but it simply wasn't in His nature to rely so much on others, not even his best friends. Trust them, yes, but rely, no.

Hiruma yawned and stretched before pulling on a tight pair of blue jeans and his black muscle t-shirt. He tugged the covers tighter around a still sleeping Shiro and gently pushed some loose hanging black locks out of his face before leaving.

He quietly strolled through town towards the apartment, enjoying the crisp and fresh morning air. So far so good. If everything went well he and Shiro would be able to move in by tomorrow morning as he had hoped. When all this was done he would finally be able to focus on football again, of cause Shiro was more important than everything else, but Hiruma was already behind schedule. He also needed to work out a complete new set of game strategies for the Devil bats upcoming game against the Kyoshin Poseidon. The blonde frowned at the idea that he would have to pull several all nighters after this weekend, if he should have any hope finishing in time. '_No choice, it has to be done.' _ Hiruma thought and kept walking when he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hiruma-san!"

Hiruma immediately winched.

"Godammit! Why do I have to deal with her right now?" Hiruma muttered irritated under his breath and turned around to see Mamori running towards him, her grumpy look matching his own. She stopped right in front of him and planted her hands solid on her hips.

"There you are! Where were you last night? I must have called you at least 8 times!"

Hiruma was slightly confused, not that he showed it or anything. _'Were I was? What does that fucking manager mean by that?'_ But then it suddenly hit him. He and Mamori had agreed to meet up in the club house last night to go through the videos of the games Poseidon had played lately, hoping to find weaknesses in their line-up. But after everything that had been on his mind yesterday he had completely forgotten.

Hiruma looked down at her with a bored expression.

"Something came up." He said simply.

This only made Mamori look angrier.

"Something came up? Is that your best excuse? You could've at least called me and cancelled! Its common decency you know!"

"Let it go, fucking manager. I hadn't got the time yesterday. I'll go through the videos myself tonight, I'm busy right now." Hiruma said with annoyance in his voice.

"Hadn't got the time? Ha! I bet you were just running around playing with your stupid guns and forgot all about our meeting." Mamori said and crossed her arms over her chest while sending Hiruma a glare.

Hiruma didn't answer. He just turned around, his shoulders more tense than before. _'If only that had been the case'_ he thought and started walking again.

"Are you just going to walk away now! Is that how you deal with all your problems?" Mamori exclaimed loudly.

Hiruma gritted his teethes hard before turning around and marched towards Mamori in a threatening manner that almost had her take a step back in light fear. He stopped about two inches from her and forced himself to take a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke, or more like growled with suppressed anger.

"Listen up fucking manager, I know I forgot our meeting I won't even deny it! But I had way more important matters to take care of yesterday and I fucking swear that the last thing I need right now is having to deal with a stuck up woman who's gets so damn insulted just because she was forgotten! I already have more than enough on my mind without you shooting daggers at me for such unimportant things!" Hiruma stepped back a few steps, he could feel himself almost shaking with anger, and glared at the now wide eyed girl in front of him before he said in a more calm and collected voice;

"You know nothing of me or my problems…"

Hiruma turned around and started walking again, away from the now stunned and speechless Mamori. He ran his hand through his blond hair as he walked clenching his teethes and eyes in frustration as he could feel a headache slowly starting to erupt inside his skull. Somewhere he knew that he shouldn't have been so harsh on the manager, but for once he hadn't been able to control his temper, he had just snapped and that was not like him. It was most likely due to his recent lack of sleep and the stress from having to make sure he and his brother had a place to live and at the same time having a whole football team he needed to lead.

Hiruma was known as a man who could make the impossible possible but even he was human, no matter how much resemblance he had of a devil, he had a limit of how much he could deal with at once.

**That's the end of this chapter, hope it was worth the wait**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 at last!**

**Disclaimer: disclaim, disclaim and yet again disclaim! Except Shiro! He IS mine! Bwahahaha!**

**A father to truly hate!:**

Hiruma returned to Musashi's house late at night. Arranging the new furniture and installing the necessary devices in Shiro's and his new apartment had taken longer than he had expected, but at least it was done now. Now all that remained was for him to pick up the rest of their belongings that still stood at their father's place. But that had to wait until tomorrow after school, cause right now Hiruma was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. Not that that surprised him, after all, he had started his day having to force himself out of bed early in the morning after a long night of work, then he had to deal with the stuck up offended manager and then spent the remaining of his day helping the movingmen carry and place the new furniture into the apartment, which lay on the fifth floor.

'_And I have to get up early tomorrow for morning practice with the team._' Hiruma thought warily as he locked himself into the house (Musashi had given him a spare key) and tiptoed through the quiet house towards the guest room Shiro and him shared.

As he entered the guest room he could hear the steady, even breaths coming from his younger brother, indicating that he was most likely fast asleep.

Hiruma quickly undressed and pulled on his night pants before almost collapsing onto his bed in the other side of the room, with a deep sigh. But just as he had done so he heard the soft whisper coming from his brother.

"Nii-san, where have you been?" Shiro asked sleepily.

Hiruma turned on his side so he could face his little brother, both their faces illuminated slightly by the moon shining through the window. He might as well tell Shiro his plans now so that he wouldn't have to wake him up early in the morning before he would go practice with the football team.

"Listen Shiro, I've found a new place for us to live and I have spent the day making it ready for us to move in. Tomorrow, when you're done with school, go back here and pack your stuff. Musashi and I have some things we need to take care of after training, but then I'll come back and get you, alright?" Hiruma said quietly and eyed Shiro calmly.

Shiro's eyes widened.

"You mean.. We already have a new home? Just you and me nii-san? Without father?" Shiro asked eagerly with hope in his voice.

Hiruma couldn't help but smile a little upon hearing the excitement and hopefulness in Shiro's voice from finally getting to live without their blasted father around.

"That's right. A brand new home and it'll just be you and me Shiro. You'll never have to worry about _him _again."

Shiro's face broke into a big smile.

"I can't wait nii-san! It'll be so great! I'm so excited!" Shiro exclaimed happily.

Hiruma's smile widened a little more.

"Me too Shiro." Hiruma whispered. "Me too."

A few moments of comfortable silence fell between the two brothers.

"You really are amazing nii-san." Shiro suddenly whispered out in the room.

"Hmm?" Hiruma hummed in questioning.

"I mean.. All this time we have lived with father has been so though and nothing has never really seemed to go our way. And everything lately happened so fast, but you've already managed find us a new home. I knew you would though. You've always been able to solve every problem that has ever occurred. Just like when you play football. That's why I want to be just like you nii-san. I want to be as smart and strong a leader and quarterback as you." Shiro said as he started up at the ceiling above him with a distant look in his eyes, as if he was picturing himself in the future, standing just as tall, proud and confident as his nii-san always did.

Shiro turned his head to look back at Hiruma, who still lay on his side watching Shiro with a soft look.

"You're the greatest nii-san. I have the best brother in the world!" Shiro said and smiled widely.

Hiruma felt both pride and happiness hearing such words coming from Shiro, but also a sense of modesty and guilt. He was not even half as great as Shiro made him sound. He couldn't even protect his own brother for god's sake! If only he had protected Shiro better! Then they wouldn't even be in this situation and most importantly, Shiro wouldn't have been _hurt_. He knew his father was unstable and yet he had still allowed Shiro to live with him for so long, honestly, what kind of older brother was he?

'_And he says he wants to be just like me.._'

Hiruma suddenly couldn't bear to look into Shiro's admiring gaze any longer and turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, placing his arms under his head for support.

"You think too highly of your nii-san Shiro." Hiruma said quietly with a dull tone that had Shiro change the look on his face from admiring to confused.

Why would his nii-san say that? As long as Shiro could remember, Hiruma had _always _been there protecting him, taking care of him, watched out for him and basically been his only everlasting, strong basis in his life, that he could always knew would be there for him if he was needed. He only had his brother left now, since he couldn't remember their mother and their father had never really been a father to either of them. It had always been his nii-san that took care of him and he had never let him down! It was sorely because of Hiruma he was able to go to a decent school and receive basic needs such as clothes and food ect. His brother was amazing! Not only had he taken care of them both since he was 10. Earning money so that they could get a more than decent education and everyday life! But he was also the absolute top student of his highschool, team captain and quarterback as well as mastermind and incredibly strategist for the fast improving Deimon devil bats and not to mention an incredible sharpshooter as well as weapon expert! (Which he often shows of during football practice according to what Musashi had told him).

And now his brother had done it once again. Once again he had been standing knee deep in problems that needed to be taken care of and he had taken care of it all during a few days! If that wasn't proof enough that his brother was the best, then he didn't know what!

"No nii-san, I don't believe I do." Shiro answered simply to the statement Hiruma had just uttered.

Hiruma didn't answer. He started up at the ceiling for some time before sighing deeply.

"We better get some sleep, it's late and there's school tomorrow. Musashi and I have to get up early for morning practice. Can you get to school by yourself?" Hiruma asked without looking at his brother.

Shiro nodded even though he knew his nii-san wasn't looking at him.

"Of cause nii-san I'm not _that _helpless you know." Shiro said with a little pout.

Hiruma couldn't help but chuckle a little of the rather childish statement.

"Of cause you aren't, you're _my _little brother after all." Hiruma said with a proud voice that also had Shiro chuckle a little.

"Goodnight then my little warrior." Hiruma said, using his little nickname for Shiro, before tugging further down the covers of the bed to finally get some much needed rest.

"Night nii-san." Shiro answered with a yawn and followed his brother's example.

**Next day:**

"That's enough! Head for the showers fucking idiots!" Hiruma yelled before firing yet another round with his machinegun at the devil bats, who hurried towards the showers after finishing their after school practice.

"That's weird, my watch says we still have about 20 minutes left of training." Sena said as he and Monta started to walk towards the showers.

"What? You mean Hiruma-san actually ended training early today? That's max unlike him!" Monta said in disbelief. Hiruma _never _ended training early!

"Ah-HA-HA! We must have done such a great job that Hiruma felt like awarding us for our hard work!" Ah spinning Taki said as he flashed his usually big smile and a thumbs up, certain of his theory.

Hiruma's pointed ear twitched in annoyance and flashed his sharp fangs in a low growl before turning around and pointing his machinegun at the little group of players that obviously liked to discuss his reasons for having ended training early for once.

"Less talk! Get moving fucking slowpokes!" Hiruma roared as he once again fired his gun at the feet of the little group.

"H-Haii Hiruma-san!" The three boys yelled in unison and ran the rest of the way, their engaged conversation quickly forgotten.

When he was certain everyone had entered the changing room Hiruma let out a sigh of relief. He had _never_ thought this day would end! Exhausting still loomed in his body from the last couple of stressful days and he couldn't wait till this whole affair would be done with, so Shiro and he could start up their new lives _without _having their damn father to worry about. That was the most important thing for Hiruma right now, but the sooner they would be done with this mess the better! He also really needed to get his head back into the game if his team should have any chance to get to the Christmas bowl.

"Old man. I need you to join me and bring your old ass car to my father's house." Hiruma said and stared at the empty air in front of him, knowing Musashi was standing right behind him.

Musashi walked up to Hiruma's side with his helmet resting casually over his shoulder and raised his eyebrow in questioning.

"Why?"

"Because I need to pick up the rest of our things there before we pick up Shiro and I need you help me and your fucking car to transport it." Hiruma said simply without looking into Musashi's eyes.

"Alright, but let's hit the showers first Hm?" Musashi said and padded Hiruma on the shoulder once before he started to make his way back to the changing rooms to join their teammates.

Hiruma only let out a "Tch." Before following his long term friend to the showers.

**Later:  
**Hiruma and Musashi both stepped out of the van parked right outside Hiruma and Shiro's old house where their father lived. The two men took one final look at each other before they both grabbed a bag and slowly made their way up the entrance.

"It won't take long. We only need to grab our clothes. I've already provided everything else." Hiruma said shortly.

Musashi nodded in understanding.

When the pair reached the door Hiruma merely kicked it open. When they stepped inside a foul smell met them. It was like a mix of sweat, dirt, throw up and beer. Both Hiruma and Musashi couldn't help but letting out a sound of disgust when the smell hit them head on. Suddenly a blurred voice cut through the otherwise silent house.

"Who the fucking.. Hell is that?" it yelled. The voice only all too familiar to Hiruma, who growled in anger as his father stumbled into the entry. His black, spiky hair was greasy and messy, the clothes he wore was dirty with dozen of stains, he was unshaved and clearly hadn't showered in a long time, judging from the smell. In his hand was the ever present beer.

When Hiruma's father finally registered who was standing in his doorway he broke into an enormous smile.

"So.. The lost son returns home! HA! I have to say *hic* I hadn't thought you would return _that_ fast! But guess that *hic* can't be helped, you are after all, so very helpless without me aren't you Yoichi?" His father half laughed with his unsteady voice, not even paying attention to Musashi.

Musashi too glared hateful at Hiruma's father. He had never met him before or heard anything about this man until a few days ago and now he finally understood why Hiruma had never spoken about his father in all the time he had known him. He knew Hiruma and Shiro's mother had died when they were very young, but he had always wondered why Hiruma never spoke about his father. It was all very clear now. Who would ever admit to be related to this bastard?

Hiruma's growl grew in seize and his hand clenched at his side while he desperately tried to hold himself back from planting a solid fist in his father's smug face. Without a word he walked right past his father and headed upstairs where Shiro and his rooms were and Musashi followed him closely. Hiruma's father merely kept laughing uncontrollable all the while.

Upstairs Musashi followed Hiruma inside what he assumed was Shiro's room. Without a word Hiruma threw open a closet nearby and started packing the clothes inside into the bag. Musashi followed his example and helped Hiruma with the job. Words were not needed and Musashi did not need to ask if Hiruma was alright. It was written all over the blond haired boys face how embarrassed and ashamed he was of having Musashi seeing how much of an asshole father he had. Musashi knew it hurt Hiruma's pride, one of the few things he cherished almost as high as his little brother and American football. Of course Musashi would never dream of judging Hiruma from his pathetic father, but he knew it would be pointless to tell Hiruma that. First of all, the blond would immediately refuse to have even thought such things. Secondly, Hiruma would most likely never accept words of comfort or reassurance form anyone, not even from him. And thirdly, Hiruma is the most brilliant and strongest quarterback he had ever known and he is, regardless of his devilish nature, a wonderful and caring older brother. That's all Musashi need to know, so it doesn't really matter if Hiruma's father is a right out fucking ass. Hiruma is one of his best friends and he will stand by him even though he knows the devil never will express gratefulness in words. But Hiruma don't need words to show gratefulness, because everything Musashi needs to do is look into those burning, passionately eyes and he can see that he is thankful, even though he always does his best to hide it.

As the two teens silently had packed Shiro and Hiruma's clothing plus a few personal items, they both made their way back down the stairway where Hiruma's father stood waiting, arms crossed over his chest and still with a smug look on his face.

On their way down Hiruma handed Musashi the bag he was carrying.

"Take these outside. I'll be there in a minute." He said simply.

Musashi took the offered bag from Hiruma.

"Okay, be quick alright. Shiro's probably waiting for us already." Musashi said.

Hiruma nodded in understanding. As they reached the bottom of the stair Musashi exited the door that stood wide open to go place the bags into his car and wait for Hiruma. Hiruma on the other hand walked right up to his father and the two stood and glared at each other for a few moments.

"So, when is my other little coward of a son coming? I have a whole house ready for you two fuckheads to clean. *Hic* that's just the beginning of your damn punishment for even thinking that you could just run away! Haha! But I knew you would be back! Look at you *hic* crawling back to me like a little dog! If you ask nicely I might not even beat the shit out of you two." Hiruma's father said triumphal as he took another swig of his beer.

Hiruma's whole body tensed in suppressed anger. He forced himself to take a deep breath in order to calm himself, though he immediately regretted it as his lungs were filled with the disgusting polluted air of the house. The temptation to beat up his old weak assed father was almost too great to resist, but he would _not _sink down on his father's level and use violence against those weaker than himself. Instead he growled in an angry voice;

"Listen carefully you fucker! Shiro and I are _not _coming back! I came here to collect the last of our stuff. We have found a new home far away from you fucking asshole! So now you can stay here and die in your own filth and shit 'cause you aren't _never _going to see any of us again! You are a pathetic, weak and fatassed old man and without me here to make money you are done for! So have a nice life bastard!"

As Hiruma talked did his father's facial expression slowly change from smug and arrogant to lost and bewildered, much to Hiruma's joy.

Hiruma took one final look at his father's pathetic face before turning on his heels, headed for the door.

As the drunken man saw his son turn his back on him did his face turn back into a look of roaring rage. How _dared _he talk to him like that? Regardless of everything he was their father and it was _he _who was in charge! Suddenly the man eyed a nearby chair that stood in the hallway. So that blasted son of his thought he could just come back here to leave him in the dark? No way! In an explosion of anger the man grabbed the chair, lifted it over his head and charged forward towards his son as he yelled;

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"

Hiruma was startled by the sudden outburst that came just before he reached the door, but before he could turn around it was already too late.

"ARRGG!" Hiruma yelled out in pain as his father smashed a chair on his head with all his might, making it beak in many pieces.

Hiruma was knocked to the ground, his head burning in hot white pain as he felt hot blood starting to flow down his face. Hiruma groaned in pain and slowly tried to push himself up on shaky arms, but before he knew a foot made painful connection to his ribs and Hiruma fell to the ground once again, this time clenching his abdomen in pain. More powerful kicks followed, never giving Hiruma a chance to defend himself the slightest, each time making the teen let out a little cry of pain.

"That's what you fucking get for trying to run away from me you insolent brat!" Hiruma's father yelled as he continued to kick his defenseless son over and over.

Musashi felt a sudden chill of worry when he heard the roaring voice of Hiruma's father coming from inside and froze entirely for a few milliseconds the moment he head Hiruma's cry of pain that followed closely. Without even thinking did the bulky teen nothing less than sprint down the pavement leading back to the house he had exited a few minutes earlier, hoping dearly that his friend was alright even though he already knew that he wasn't.

When he was only s few meters away from the open doorway could Musashi see Hiruma lying on the ground, completely defenseless, receiving kick after kick from his father that hovered above the blond. Musashi ran even faster at this sight and with his own roar of anger tackled the old man without mercy to the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Now that the man was paralyzed on the ground trying to get air back down his lungs did Musashi quickly get back on his feet and ran to Hiruma who had managed to push himself up on one shaky arm while the other still held tightly around his abdomen. Musashi carefully put his arms around Hiruma's shoulders and helped his friend to stand. Musashi noted the broken chair that lay on the floor before he returned his full attention on helping Hiruma to the car outside.

"What the hell happened?" Musashi asked worried as he placed one of Hiruma's arms around his own shoulder in order to support the blond some more.

Hiruma groaned once again in slight pain, his head hurt like hell and his whole body felt bruised, but at least it didn't seem like he had broken anything. He lifted his free hand to his aching head, feeling the slowly drying blood there, before answering.

"Damn coward smashed a fucking chair on my head when my back was turned." Hiruma groaned to answer Musashi's question.

"Maybe we should get you to the hospital." Musashi suggested.

Hiruma shook his head. He hurt like hell, but he could feel it wasn't so serious that he would need to pay the hospital a visit. No, a little rest and he would be fine.

"It's not that serious. Beside, Shiro is waiting. I don't want him to be alone." Hiruma said shortly, signaling that discussion was over.

Musashi wanted to protest, but Hiruma was like this there was nothing to do. And he was right, they shouldn't let Shiro wait, but he only hoped Hiruma was alright, 'cause that was a pretty bad beating he just got. Damn that bastard! Attacking his own son from behind and kick him while he's down. Musashi was more than happy that Hiruma and Shiro weren't going to be around that man ever again!

"Alright, no hospital. But then you _have _to let me help you clean your wounds when we get back to your apartment, no ageing!" Musashi said sternly as he helped his friend inside the car.

"Tch.. Whatever old man." Hiruma growled.

Great just great, this was just what he needed. As he wasn't hung up enough already! Now his bastard of a father had gone berserk on him! They started to drive towards Shiro's elementary school and Hiruma ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He knew his brother would worry about him when he saw him and that was the last thing he wanted him to do. And wounds no wounds he _had _to finish those game analysis of the Poseidon games tonight if he is going to be able work out the best strategies for their upcoming match!

'_This is going to be a very long night._' Hiruma thought tiredly without voicing his thought though. But it had to be done. He was a after all a team captain, quarterback and an older brother and he had to live up to his responsibilities, even if it would kill him!

**End of chapter **

**Omg! I made Hiruma suffer even more (God I'm so evil!) I think poor Hiruma is really exhausted about now! He goes through so much, awww poor him. I guess even the human devil has his limits.**

**Hiruma: Why are you doing this to me you fucked up woman? Don't you think I have enough to deal with already? *Loads gun***

**Me: EPP! Please Hiruma! Don't shoot me! I'm so sorry! I promise I'll make you feel better soon okay? **

**Hiruma: You fucking better! Or it'll be worse for yourself! *Starts shooting***

**Me: Arrrgh! I will I will! But I can't I you kill me!**

**Please review ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a little warning to all Mamori fans out there. I'm going to run some hate on her in this story, at least for a little bit. It's not exactly because I dislike her, it's mostly because it works really well with my story.. So yeah, Mamori fans be warned!  
**

**The worst accusation:**

"Nii-san! What happened to you?" Shiro exclaimed worried when he saw his brother and uncle Musashi exit the van that had pulled up just outside Shiro's school, where Shiro had been waiting patiently to be picked up.

Shiro had noticed that they were late and he had started to worry, but was relieved when he saw the familiar van that belonged to his uncle Musashi pull up just outside the school. His relive was very brief though and his worry immediately returned tenfold as he saw his big brother limping towards him, badly bruised and with an ominous scowl on his face.

When Hiruma heard his younger brother's worried voice and saw the worried look Shiro sent him, his face immediately softened. Hiruma limped all the way over to Shiro and kneeled down so he could be eye to eye with the shorter boy.

"Hey Shiro, sorry we're late."

Shiro shook his head dismissingly.

"Never mind that nii-san! You're injured, what happened?" Shiro asked once again, his worry evident in his eyes and voice.

"That's not important Shiro, don't worry about it. We should get going. You must be excited to see our new home, right? I'm sure you'll love it." Hiruma said and ruffled his younger brother's hair slightly, trying to get Shiro on other thoughts than his present state. The last thing he wanted was making Shiro worry. It was bad enough he had to be dragged through this whole ordeal in the first place. Hiruma knew his brother, and even though neither of them held any regard towards their father, he knew Shiro would be sad if he knew the reason behind his current state. Unfortunately, Shiro had never been that dumb..

"It was father wasn't it? He did this to you." Shiro stated more than asked. His eyes serious, letting Hiruma know that it would be no use to try and lie about it.

Hiruma, still kneeling, looked calmly into his little brother's eyes.

"Listen, Shiro.." Hiruma started, but didn't get to finish.

"Does it hurt?"

Hiruma was taken slightly aback by the sudden question.

"What?"

Shiro slowly lifted his hand and pointed at his own temple, indicating where the head wound from the chair and a large dark bruise had formed on Hiruma's face, before repeating his question.

"Does it hurt nii-san? It looks like it hurts a lot.. And you are limping.." Shiro said, his voice wavering a bit as he spoke. He had seen his brother injured multiple times, but those injuries had always been football injuries, something that in Shiro's eyes marked his brother as a true fighter! They were proof that his brother always fought to the very best of his abilities, even when it meant putting himself on the line. They were proof that his nii-san always plays to win, to succeed and fulfill his dream of winning the Christmas Bowl. All abilities Shiro deeply admires about his brother and abilities his father never showed any sign of having. But this was different. These weren't injuries following a victory, as usually when his brother had been hurt. These were caused by their father. A man that was supposed to love and cherish them, but instead had abused, used and mocked them their entire life. Having such a father made Shiro cherish his nii-san more than everything else in the entire world and now their father, whom his older brother had even provided for since he was 10, had hurt the most cherished element in his life.

Hiruma smiled reassuringly, though it was a slightly strained smile as a pounding headache was starting to creep up on him.

"Hey don't worry, your nii-san is tough! It's nothing I can't handle." Hiruma said, hoping it would ease his younger brother's worried feature.

"I.. I just can't believe father did this to you.." Shiro whispered and dropped his eyes to his feet.

"Hey, Shiro. Look at me." Hiruma said and gently lifted his brother's chin with his forefinger and thumb. As Shiro looked at him once again, his heart wrenched at the sight of those eyes, where sadness now mixed with worry.

"I'm fine, really. It's in the past now, we'll never have to worry about him again. You and I, we are going to start a whole new life together. I swear everything is going to be alright now."

Hiruma was relieved when Shiro smiled a bit.

"Okay.. If you say so nii-san, I know it's true." Shiro said and smiled a little wider. He didn't know what he would do without his nii-san. Somehow he could always make even the worst situations better. Everything felt so reassuring when his brother was with him and he fully believed in him. Yes, as long as he had his nii-san everything would definitely be alright!

Hiruma returned the smile.

"Of course it is. Now, should we get going?"

"Yeah! I'm so excited to see our new apartment!" Shiro said eagerly and particularly jumped in excitement towards the parked van to get in the backseat.

Hiruma stood up to follow, but just as he did he was overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness. Musashi, who had been standing just on the sideline as the two brothers talked, saw and immediately hurried to his best friend's side and discreetly placed a steadying hold on the quarterback's arm.

Hiruma groaned slightly as he pinched his eyes hard together and took himself to the head as he tried to will the dizziness to quickly pass.

"You're a mess Hiruma, you need to take it easy." Musashi said as he tried not to let his worry towards his friend shine through too much. He knew Hiruma hated when he was the center of worry. He was a leader and he didn't like to show weakness, Musashi knew that from experience. But still, no matter how much some people denied it, Hiruma was still only human and he was seriously starting to push the boundaries of his own health! It looked like he had barely slept for days and knowing Hiruma, it was probably true. When it came to Shiro, Hiruma would put everything aside to protect his brother. He was one of the very few things Hiruma deemed even higher than American football and Musashi truly admired how great an older brother Hiruma was, but he wouldn't just sit back and see his friend drive himself to complete exhaustion.

"Don't concern yourself about me old man, you just keep focus on next week's game." Hiruma said dismissingly.

But Musashi wouldn't back down so easily.

"Like hell I will! Hiruma, I know you prefer to deal with your problems alone, I've respected that so far, but you have particularly going through hell and back in mere days! You're working yourself to the brink of exhaustion and now this episode with your dad.."

"I can handle it.." Hiruma defended, not looking at his friend.

"Sure you can." Musashi said with a voice laced with irony. "If I hadn't been here right now, you would have nosedived straight to the concrete!"

"That won't happen again.." Hiruma said emotionless, still not offering Musashi so much as a single glance.

"Stop talking nonsense Hiruma! Forget your damn pride for once and let the people around you help you out and take a few days off. I'm sure that if we informed the team of your situation they would all under-" But Musashi didn't get to finish his sentence as Hiruma turned his head sharply and glared before speaking.

"We will do _no _such thing! And you must be crazy thinking I actually have time taking a few days off! We have a game against Poseidon next week and that lot is nowhere near ready to take them on!" Hiruma retorted angrily.

"They'll notice anyway Hiruma! You can't keep this hidden forever. You aren't invincible!" Musashi growled. He wanted to help Hiruma, he did, but damn could he be stubborn!

"Listen fucking old man! Right now I need them to stay focused! I don't know about you, but I didn't come this far just to blow it up now! So get off my case!"

Musashi sighed in defeat. At this point Hiruma was way too stubborn to listen to reason. All he could do right now was keeping an eye out for his friend.

"Alright.. It's your life so it's your decision after all. But.. Just remember what I've said. Take it easy, please. For everybody's sake. You'll be no good for either Shiro or the team if you exhaust yourself any further."

"Whatever old man, let's just get going, Shiro is waiting." Hiruma huffed and walked towards the van where Shiro were waiting for them.

Once again Musashi sighed before he too made his way to the driver's seat in the van. He was concerned about Hiruma. Something told him that the devil quarterback wouldn't take his advice about taking it easy. He never had before.

Shiro's jaw dropped when he walked into his and his brother's new apartment. It was almost too good to be true! Shiro had lived his whole life with his father, so to actually have a living room that allowed sunlight to flow through the windows and didn't smell like dirt and beer, a clean kitchen that wasn't overflowing with empty chips bags and old junk food and a bathroom that didn't smell like a stink bomb had went off in there was almost like paradise in the young boys head. On top of that the apartment was already furnished and supplied with everything they needed.

"It's amazing nii-san! I almost can't believe this is our home!" Shiro exclaimed happily as he ran through the entire apartment, not able to suppress his joy.

Hiruma smiled at the sight of the cheering Shiro as he and Musashi placed their clothes filled bags on the floor right inside the door.

Musashi looked happy too. This was such a radical improvement from the home he had just seen and he was relieved to know that either Hiruma or Shiro would be living in such poor conditions again. It was simply amazing how Hiruma had been able to prepare all this in mere days! But guess he shouldn't be surprised. It wasn't unlike Hiruma to make the impossible possible, but clearly it didn't come without a price. Sure Hiruma had already accomplished to pull together a brand new home and the beginning of a new life for himself and his brother, but the sight of his exhausted blond friend was a clear indication that it hadn't been an easy accomplishment, even for Hiruma. Musashi walked up to the side of his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Want me to hang for a bit?" Musashi offered. Maybe he could help Hiruma unpack the last things or cook some dinner, or anything that might help to unburden his friend a bit.

But Hiruma decline the offer with a shake of his head.

"We're fine. Just call Kurita and tell him we are well settled, the fatty is probably worrying his ass for nothing as usual."

Musashi wanted to correct Hiruma so badly. It was true Kurita was worried, but so was he and it certainly wasn't without reason. Hiruma almost looked like he was ready to collapse. Dark circles framed his eyes, his entire posture was tense and particularly emitted stress and the usually sharp, piercing and observant eyes looked dull and unfocused. But still, Musashi could see the determination in his team captain's eyes and he didn't want to risk yet another argument with the quarterback in the presence of Shiro.

Musashi sighed and padded his friend's shoulder gently one last time before making his way to the door.

"At least promise me that if anything, even the slightest thing comes up, you'll call me and Kurita and we'll come immediately." Musashi said, his back to Hiruma.

Hiruma didn't answer immediately. He really didn't want to burden either Musashi or Kurita with any more of his problems, but he had to admit.. It was reassuring to know they would be there if he needed them. If they hadn't been here to help him out with this whole affair he, for once in his life, wouldn't have known what he should have done. And who knew.. With everything that was going on he might just had to admit that it was possible he would need their help again.

"Sure.. I promise." Was all he said as an answer to his friend's request, but it was an honest promise.

Satisfied, Musashi shouted a quick goodbye to the still cheering Shiro, and exited the apartment, drew up his phone from his pocket and went on calling Kurita. They would both have to keep a keen eye on Hiruma and try to help him out the best they could, at least until this whole ordeal would settle down and their good old devil team captain would be able to rise fully again. 

It was now about 18.30 pm and Hiruma sat in the living room, notes, research papers, basic strategy plans and player statuses lay scattered all over the coffee table where he sat. His worn eyes were glued to the TV as he watched the older matches the Poseidon team had played lately, those he had been supposed to analyze with that damn manager. He was busy spotting out weak spots in the team's line-up and developing new game plans to counter their crushing defense. He completely ignored the now full blown, headache that was pounding inside his skull. He could already feel an all-nighter coming his way, but there was no way around it. He had a responsibility towards his team and he would be damned if he would jeopardize the last chance for Kurita, Musashi and himself to win the Christmas bowl because of a simple headache!

Totally wrapped up in his work, Hiruma didn't even hear Shiro enter the room.

"Nii-san." Shiro spoke softly to gain his older brother's attention.

Hiruma lifted his head to see Shiro standing over by the dinner table. In each of his hands he held a plateful of hot steaming noodles, topped with quick fried shrimps and steamed vegetables. Shiro sent his nii-san a cheerful smile and placed the plates of food on the table and said happily;

"I made your favorite dinner nii-san. You looked really hungry so I gave you some extra shrimps because I know how much you like them."

Hiruma hadn't even noticed until now, how starved he actually was and the sight and delicious smell of his, indeed, favorite dinner made his mouth watering. Hiruma smiled gratefully at his younger brother and stood to take a seat at the dinner table across Shiro. This was nothing new. Even though Shiro was only 10 years old he was incredibly skilled in a kitchen! After all, it wasn't as if their father had ever bothered cooking. All he did was ordering disgusting junk-food every night with Hiruma's hard earned money. There was a reason Hiruma had ended up developing his incredibly poker skills. It was simply the only way he had been able to keep them all afloat economically, even if meant to go around the law. But that was beside the point. The point was, that because of their irresponsibly father Shiro had had no choice but to learn his way around a kitchen if he ever wanted anything decent to eat. Hiruma hadn't always been able to be home and cook for the both of them because of his long hours at school and late football practice. As a result, Shiro had become more and more skilled at cooking. Hiruma had often come home after an exhausting day at school and practice to be greeted by his dear younger brother and see he had already prepared dinner for them both.

"Have I ever told you how great you are Shiro?" Hiruma said as he picked up his chopsticks, eager to taste the delicious looking dish in front of him.

Shiro laughed at the comment. He had come to like cooking very much, mostly because he knew how much his older brother would always be so happy when he did.

"You always say that when I cook nii-san." Shiro said happily as he too picked up his chopsticks and began eating.

"Well, I'll say it again. You are great and this is delicious!" Hiruma said. He knew he had a whole night of work waiting for him, but a nice home cooked meal would definitely help him getting through the night.

Shiro smiled proudly.

"Thank you nii-san." Shiro said cheerfully, but his smile fell when he saw his brother unconsciously placing an index finger against his temple, rubbing in small circles. Shiro knew his nii-san better than anyone else and he knew whenever he did just that it was a telltale sign his older brother was having a severe headache.

Shiro left the table without a word walking towards the bathroom, making Hiruma look confused after him. One minute later Shiro returned and walked towards Hiruma with a glass of water and two aspirins in his hands.

"Take these nii-san, it'll help." Shiro said and held out the pills and water for his brother to take.

Hiruma smiled gratefully for the second time that evening. Sometimes he questioned himself if he was taking care of Shiro or if it really was Shiro who was taking care of him. He reached out and accepted the items, quickly swallowing the pills and washed them down with some water.

"Thank you Shiro."

Shiro smiled satisfied and walked back to his seat at the table.

The two brothers then ate the rest of their dinner, small talking a bit. When they were done, Shiro carried the empty plates out to the kitchen and did the dishes so that his nii-san could concentrate on his work. When he was done, Shiro came back into the living room and helped out his older brother the best he could by sorting the notes, changing the videos when needed and even made coffee to help his nii-san stay awake.

When the time was almost 22.00 pm Shiro yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes and it didn't go unnoticed by Hiruma, who immediately felt bad for having kept his younger brother up so late.

"You've been a really great help Shiro, thank you, but now it's time for you to go to bed." Hiruma said and gently padded his younger brother's short black hair.

Shiro yawned again.

"But what about you nii-san? Aren't you going to bed?" Shiro asked tiredly, but still with worry laced in his voice. He could see the dark rings under his brother's eyes, he looked so tired and he had been drinking over 3 mugs of coffee the past hour!

"I need to get these game plans done first. I have to drill them with the team tomorrow after school if we're going to win our next match. You understand that right?"

Shiro understood. American football meant the world to his nii-san and Shiro dreamed of watching him and his team winning the Christmas bowl, but he still didn't like his brother having to stay up when he clearly was as tired as he was.

"Alright.. But promise me you will go to sleep right after you're done!" Shiro said with as serious a voice he could in his rather sleepy state.

Hiruma chuckled and ruffled his brother's hair lovingly.

"I promise, now go brush your teeth and get to bed before it gets too late."

With a nod Shiro rose from his seat on the couch and started to walk to the bathroom. Just before he exited the living room he turned.

"Night nii-san." He said with a sleepy voice.

"Goodnight little warrior." Hiruma answered with a smile.

When Shiro had disappeared through the door Hiruma turned his full attention back to his work. He had to get this done!

**Next morning:  
**Hiruma woke when an annoying ray of sunlight chose to lay it's path right across his closed eyelids. He opened his still heavy eyes and slowly lifted his head from where it had rested against his folded arms. He brought up a hand to rub his painfully stiff neck. He must have fallen asleep the moment he had finished the game plans very late last night, he hadn't even had the energy to pull himself up and into bed. The living room was filled with early morning light. How long had he been asleep? It certainly didn't feel like very long if he had to judge himself.

Hiruma pulled out his mobile phone to check the time and his eyes widened in shock. He had exactly 15 minutes until class started!

"SHIT! Shitshitshitshitshit!" Hiruma cursed as he quickly stood and hurried to his room to pull on his school uniform. He did not have time for his usual morning shower. Quickly grapping his shoulder bag he hurried out the door and ran as fast as he could.

Normally it would take 20 minutes at a decent tempo to reach Deimon high. Hiruma covered it in 10, which was rather impressive his still hurting leg from yesterday. The bell had just sounded as he entered the front yard of the school indicating the beginning of the day's first classes. He hurried to his classroom where class, too, had just started. Having a reputation to keep Hiruma casually entered, like he hadn't just spent the last 10 minutes running like crazy. His usually slightly frightening expression was in place and he completely ignored the many frightened and or curious faces of his classmates and teacher when they saw his now badly bruised face. They all probably assumed he had been in a fight with some thugs, downtown. The only person in the room who wasn't sending him neither a frightened or curious look was Mamori Anezaki, the damn manager, who glared at him angrily from her seat at the front row of the class.

To Hiruma's dismay the only seat available was the seat just behind her. With a mental sigh he strolled towards the seat and sat down, intending to completely ignore the still piercing glare the fucking manager sent him as the class resumed once again. Unfortunately Mamori didn't seem to allow him to ignore her.

"Late I see. Why am I not surprised? But then again, I guess it's a wonder you even bothered to show up!" She whispered angrily over her shoulder, never stopping glaring at the blond devil behind her.

Hiruma wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. Seriously? Was she still going on about that? How long could this woman hold a grudge about one missed meeting?

"Listen fucking manager, I already took care of the game analyses myself so just drop it already." Hiruma tried to reason. He was way too tired to deal with this woman right now, but clearly she didn't feel like dropping the subject just yet.

"Oh sure you did and I bet that bruise on your face came from trying to actually knock out some useful strategies for once and not a proof that you have been out playing crime lord again." The manager said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Hiruma fisted his hand under the desk and his shoulders tensed even further than they already were. Most of all he wanted to snap back at the fucking manager with a harsh comment, but making a scene in the middle of class would certainly not do him any good right now. He was tired, sore and stressed enough as it was and if he did bite back at her he could be certain she would chase and harass him for the rest of the day and he truly did not have the energy to deal with that. He already had enough on his mind.

So instead of retorting with a smart wit comment as he usually would have done he just stared blankly at the glaring shorthaired girl and said;

"Whatever fucking manager, would you mind? Some of us are actually trying to follow this class."

With and offended "Humpf!" Mamori whipped her head and turned her back to Hiruma, much to his pleasure.

Turning his own attention back to their current lesson Hiruma tried to focus on what the teacher was trying to explain, but whit little luck. His entire being was particularly worn-out from the constant pressure of burdens that lay on his shoulders, but Hiruma was not one to believe in excuses. He would force himself through this day, no matter what.

School was finally over and that meant it was time for the Deimon Devil Bats to begin their afternoon training. Hiruma was on his way to the clubhouse, carrying his bag over his shoulder, when Musashi and Kurita came running up alongside him.

"Hiruma-kun! How are you doing? Musashi told me what happened at your father's house, are you alright?" Kurita blabbered worried as he fell into a stride alongside his long term friend. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the big purple bruise on the side of the blonde's face.

"Ahh! Hiruma-kun! Your face! How could he do that to his own son?" Kurita exclaimed loudly.

"Shut the fuck up damn fatty! Or would you like to go worldwide first?" Hiruma hissed angrily. He would appreciate if the fact that his psychotic father had beat him up didn't reach out to the whole school.

"He's just worried about you Hiruma." Musashi said, trying to defend their friend.

"I'm perfectly fine as you can see!" Hiruma snapped.

"I don't.. Actually, you don't look very well Hiruma-kun. You look really pale and tired. Are you sure it's a good idea that you train today?" Kurita asked worried.

"Yeah, maybe you should take it easy today? You know, just manage the team from the sideline and rest a bit yourself?" Musashi suggested.

Hiruma forced himself to take a deep breath. He knew his friends were only trying to help him and they were probably right. He wasn't sure he even had the energy to run the warm-up laps around the field. Besides, today they were supposed to focus on their defense game plays for their upcoming match against Poseidon, which meant Hiruma wasn't going to be in line-up anyway so maybe he could stand down a bit this one time.

"Alright, I'll take it easy.. But only for today." Hiruma agreed.

Musashi and Kurita smiled satisfied and the three friends made their way to the clubhouse together to change into their uniforms.

**Meanwhile:  
**Shiro locked himself into their new apartment with the key his brother had given him yesterday. When he had woken up this morning his nii-san was already gone as he had expected since his classes started earlier than Shiro's own.

Shiro pulled of his backpack and set it beside the coffee table in the living room, intending to get started on his homework right away. But as he looked down at the table the young boy's eyes widened in surprise. On the table lay all those game plans his nii-san had worked so hard on to complete all night. He must have forgotten them this morning, which in itself was unusual since his brother was always very organized and never forgot anything.

Shiro looked at his wrist watch. The Deimon Devil Bat's practice had just begun. If he hurried maybe he could bring his brother the game plans in time. He remembered his brother had said the team was supposed to practice them today, which would be difficult without the actual game plans there.

Taking a decision, Shiro quickly grasped the papers from the table and put them in his backpack and threw it back over his shoulder before he ran out the door towards his nii-san's high school as fast as he could.

"Ne, Sena? Have you seen that giant bruise on Hiruma-san's face? What do you think happened to him?" Monta panted slightly as he, Sena and the rest of the team were busy doing their warm-up laps around the field.

"Yeah I saw. Do you think Hiruma-san has been in a fight maybe?" Sena said.

Monta shrugged.

"Who knows? He isn't even running laps with us like always does." The monkey boy commented in with confusion.

Jumonji, who had overheard the conversation between the running back and receiver, came running up beside his two teammates to join in with his own theories,

"I saw Hiruma was limping on his right leg. That's probably why he isn't running with us. I bet he's been in a fight with the Black Scorpions gang. They've been roaming the city a lot lately." Jumonji said, confident in his theory.

Sena was about to comment when the unmistakable voice of the devil quarterback reached their ears.

"No slowing down fucking lazy-ass bastards!" Hiruma yelled from the other side of the field and fired a series of shots towards the trio who had slowed down during their conversation.

Motivated as much as frightened by their team captain's salves of shots the trio shirked and picked up their speed, not wanting to tempt their fate of temper of their captain any further.

Hiruma rested his gun back against his shoulder and blew a gum bubble as the team was just about to finish the last laps.

Mamori, who stood right behind him, made a small sound of disapproval.

"Got a problem fucking manager?" Hiruma asked annoyed, though he wasn't sure he was interested in her answer.

"Violence is your answer to everything, it's barbaric!" Mamori snorted angrily.

Hiruma smirked.

"They're running aren't they?"

"That's beside the point! The point is you aren't fit to be a leader!" Mamori retorted.

Hiruma popped yet another gum bubble before answering.

"Maybe you're right. After all I let you become manager of the team." Hiruma said tauntingly not offering the girl even a single glance, though he did not mean what he said. He would never admit it out loud, but he had had to admit the damn manager had become an indispensable part of the Deimon Devil Bats, with her bright head and flair at noticing important details during a match. Right now though, she was more of a pain in the neck than anything else.

Deeply offended by the comment, Mamori almost broke the note board in her hands. She only just stopped herself in doing so because the entire team came running towards Hiruma and herself, done with their warm-up and ready to begin the training.

Roused from his nap at the bench by the loud sound of the approaching, running football team, Doburoku stood and walked to the side of Hiruma, ready to begin the training of the team. The small man took a final swig of his fateful sake jug and seized the opportunity of the movement to discreetly look over the tall, blond quarterback, he had known for so long. The moment he had seen Hiruma stepping out on the field, bruised, limping, tense and with clear dark circles framing his eyes, his first thought had been to send him home at once since he clearly was in no shape to be training! If anyone knew what pushing yourself beyond your own limits could do it was Doburoku. He had ruined his own football career when he had pushed himself too hard during the dreaded death march in his youth and he was certainly not letting anyone of his boys repeat his mistake! But before he had the chance to confront Hiruma, Musashi and Kurita had quickly dragged him behind the clubhouse and informed him of everything Hiruma had gone through in the past couple of days and pleaded him not to confront Hiruma about any of it and that they had already made him promise to take it easy during training. Doburoku hadn't even known until today that Hiruma had a younger brother yet alone an abusive and alcoholic father! He felt bad for Hiruma. No teen should ever have to carry so many burdens on his shoulders alone. Though he had never meet Hiruma's father he already felt a deep hatred for the man, who could actually bring himself to harm his own sons in such ways! He wanted to help the blond teen, but he knew better than confront Hiruma head on. So instead he agreed to help Musashi and Kurita keeping an eye out for the blond quarterback, ready to step in if it would be needed. At least he knew Hiruma had some good, loyal friends, who would have his back no matter what. That was reassuring to know.

"Well then, let's begin shall we?" Doburoku stated casually and placed his boney hands on his hips as he eyed the awaiting team before he turned his attention to Hiruma.

"Do you have our defense game plans against the Poseidon team ready Hiruma?" The trainer asked. He was eager to see which brilliant tactic game plans Hiruma had been able to come up with this time.

"Of course." Hiruma answered and gathered up his back to pull out the plans he had worked so hard on completing most of the night. He opened the bag and.. They weren't there…

The panic slowly started to rise inside Hiruma's head. He couldn't have forgotten the game plans, he simply couldn't! He started to rummage through the entire bags contents. They had to be down there somewhere!

His worry must have been visible, because Doburoku and the rest of the team looked confused at each other, except for Mamori, who stood with crossed arms and a smirk on her face.

"I knew you hadn't made them, I just knew it." She said mockingly, still smirking.

Hiruma did not answer her. He was still busy roaming through the back, almost desperately. He couldn't believe he forgotten the game plans, after all those hours of hard work to get them done in time! Just when he was about to throw the bag aside in frustration a familiar voice, coming from the far end of the field, suddenly reached his ears;

"Nii-saaaaan!"

The entire team turned to see a short, young, black haired boy come running down the field towards them. Unnoticed by his teammates, Hiruma's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of his younger brother.

"Shiro?" Hiruma mumbled under his breath, not loud enough for anyone to hear. What was Shiro doing here?

Shiro slowed down, panting slightly from his run, but happy that he that looked like he just made it in time. He began a determined stroll towards his older brother when suddenly a girl stepped in front of him, blocking his way. Confused and slightly annoyed Shiro looked up to see the tall shorthaired girl smiling politely down at him before she knelled right in front of him, still with a kind smile on her face.

"Well hello there little fellow, what are you doing here? Are you lost?" Mamori asked the cute boy in front of her.

Shiro's confusion grew. Of course he wasn't lost. He just wanted to get to his nii-san. Shiro shook his head.

"No, I'm here to see my nii-san." He said in a matter-of-fact voice.

The team watched curiously around themselves as to see if they could figure out who was this boy's older brother. When no one seemed to step forward Sena stepped out and placed his hands on his knees to better make eye contact with the young boy in front of them.

"Are you sure your nii-san goes to this school? This is Deimon high school you now." Sena asked the boy.

Shiro started to grow slightly annoyed with all these stupid questions and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Of course he goes to this school, my nii-san is right there!" Shiro said and pointed happily at Hiruma, who still hadn't completely recovered from his surprise of seeing Shiro.

Everyone gasped in surprise, except for Musashi and Kurita of course, and turned to the team captain, who finally seemed to snap out of his surprised state and walked over to younger brother.

"Shiro, what in the world are you doing here?" Hiruma asked and stood in front of his brother.

Mamori had risen from her spot in front of Shiro, still completely shocked and hardly able to believe that this sweet and innocent looking boy could even be the slightest related to such a devilish creature as Hiruma.

Shiro smiled at his nii-san and quickly pulled up the game plans from his backpack.

"You forgot these at home nii-san. I just thought I would bring them to you, I hope that's alright." Shiro said and handed the papers to Hiruma.

Hiruma accepted the paper stack. He didn't even dare think what he would have done if Shiro hadn't brought these to him. Hiruma placed a hand on Shiro's head in a caring way and whispered, just loud enough for them both to hear.

"You truly are amazing Shiro, what would I do without you?"

Shiro felt extremely happy and proud hearing those words coming from his nii-san and smiled brightly.

"Can I stay and watch you guys train?" He then asked eagerly.

Hiruma smiled.

"Sure, you can sit over there by the bench." Hiruma said and pointed to the bench where Mamori also sat, supervising the training.

"Okay!" Shiro chimed and walked over to sit on the bench besides Mamori.

Now that Hiruma had got the game plans the training could finally begin. Hiruma and Doburoku immediately began to set up the defense line and explaining the game tactics to the team, drilling the tricky maneuvers over and over.

Shiro watched with pride and admiration how his nii-san was able to manage, correct and lead the team in such a brilliant way that by the end of practice their teamwork was almost flawless.

Mamori on the other hand did not offer the training much attention. Her eyes were focused on the young boy at her side most of the time. She still couldn't believe Hiruma even had a little brother! The poor thing! It must be awful living with such a violent devil as your older brother. Just before the end of practice Shiro turned around to pick up a bottle of water from his backpack behind him, in order to quench his thirst from the hot afternoon sun. That was when Mamori first really noticed the bruise on Shiro's cheek and a, now healing, wound from a split lip.

A terrible thought presented itself in Mamori's head. The manager placed a gentle hand on the young boy's shoulder to gain his attention.

"Shiro-kun, what happened to your face?" Mamori asked gently.

She noticed how Shiro's expression immediately turned slightly fearful, closely followed by sadness at her question. The boy then cast a sad look in Hiruma's direction before turning back to Mamori.

"It's.. It's nothing special.." Was all the boy said deliberately avoiding eye contact.

Mamori could feel the anger quickly rising inside her. Even though Shiro had avoided her question, his eyes had told her everything she needed to know.

She abruptly stood up and marched directly towards Hiruma, who, stood with his back to her as he delivered some last instructions on their last defense line-up to the team. Without any kind of warning Mamori grasped Hiruma by his shoulder, turned the quarterback around to face her before she planted a solid fist on his already bruised jaw.

Everybody grasped in mixed horror and surprised as Hiruma fell to the ground, clenching his jaw where the punch had fallen and the pain of the already present bruise flamed anew.

"Mamori nee-san! What in the world are you doing?" Sena exclaimed horrified as he watched his childhood friend glaring angrily at their fallen team captain, her fists still clenched and shaking in anger.

"You monster!" Mamori exclaimed accusingly and pointed her finger at Hiruma, who slowly was pushing himself into a sitting position on the ground.

Hiruma glared up into the similar glaring eyes of the manager, though his vision was slightly blurred because of the surprisingly hard punch he had just taken to the head and wiped away the small steam of blood running down his chin.

"What the fuck is your problem fucking manager?" He growled just as angrily. But before anyone had the chance to answer Shiro came running to his nii-san side, his eyes wide with worry.

"Nii-san! Nii-san are you alright?" The young boy said, his sincere worry for his brother more than evident in his voice.

Shiro immediately fell to his knees as he reached Hiruma and placed an arm behind his brother's back as was he trying to support him.

Musashi too stepped forward in front of Mamori, looking very unpleased.

"What's the meaning of this Mamori?" The broad man asked not able to suppress slight anger in his own voice.

Mamori did not even offer Musashi a single look. She just kept glaring at Hiruma down by her feet.

"Don't try and play innocent Hiruma! I know you've been hitting poor Shiro!"

Once again, everybody grasped in shock by that accusation.

Musashi, Kurita and Doburoku could hardly believe how Mamori could even accuse Hiruma for such an awful thing. Shiro looked at Mamori with a mix of shock, confusion and hatred in his eyes while Hiruma's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What.. Did you just say?" He growled.

"You heard me! How else would you explain that bruise on his cheek and wound on his lip? I always knew you were a violent bully, but I honestly never thought that you would actually sink as low as hitting your own little brother!" Mamori continued. Until now she had actually believed that somewhere, deep down, Hiruma truly wasn't as bad a man as he seemed to be, that, behind that devilish act he actually had a heart, but not anymore. How could he even stand looking himself in the mirror in the mornings was beyond her!

She was just about to voice even more of her despise for the quarterback when she was roughly intercepted;

"Mamori! That's enough!" Musashi yelled angrily at the female manager. She was so far from the truth as she could ever be! To even think Hiruma would even hurt a single hair on his younger brother's head was such an absurd thought it was enough to fill him with anger. But just as he was about to tell her off further a voice came from below;

"No, let's hear what she has to say." Hiruma said lowly as he slowly pulled himself up on his feet.

"Nii-san.." Shiro mumbled sadly as he saw the angry look his brother sent the girl. He was probably the only one able to see the hurt that was mixed into the cold glare.

"I'm nothing but a cold hearted devil, right? I don't care about anyone's feelings, not even my own younger brother's, RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK OF ME DON'T YOU?" Hiruma yelled at the now slightly frightened Mamori, but he could not help himself anymore. His rage and frustrations had reached a point of no return. She could accuse him of everything in the world and he could ignore it, everything but this. This accusation he would not stand for!

"How DARE you? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU? Shiro means the WHOLE FUCKING WORLD to me so don't you EVER accuse me of such a vile thing ever again! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Hiruma's vision started to blur dangerously much and he could feel his knees starting to shake under his own weight, but he kept his stand.

"B-But.. His bruise.. His wound.. I just assumed.." Mamori tried to defend herself, but with no avail.

"Oh, really? You just assumed I would actually do such a thing to my brother? Let me tell you one thing fucking manager! I.. I…" The edge of Hiruma's vision started to blacken and his legs gave out, making him fall hard to his knees.

"Hiruma!" Musashi exclaimed worriedly and kneeled beside his friend to support him.

"Nii-san what's wrong?" Shiro asked, just as worried and clenched his brother's arm to his chest.

The rest of the team also watched worriedly as their always strong and invincible leader fell apart right in front of them. It all seemed so unreal.

"I.. I…" Hiruma tried desperately to finish the sentence he had started to let the damn manager know exactly what he thought, but it was no use. He could not stop the darkness as it completely consumed him. Hiruma fell forward unconsciously. The only thing preventing him from colliding with the ground was Musashi's quick reflexes as he caught his friend before it could happen.

"Nii-san! Nii-saaan!" Shiro called desperately, still holding on to his brother's arm and tears slowly running down his cheeks.

At this point Doburoku immediately sprang into action.

"Musashi carry Hiruma-kun back to the clubhouse immediately, Sena-kun run ahead and find me the first-aid kit, Kurita you take care of Shiro-kun." The old man said with authority, making it clear that no one needed to question his decisions.

Everyone did as they were told. Musashi gently lifted Hiruma from the ground and carried him towards the clubhouse. Sena had already went ahead to find the first aid kit as instructed and Kurita gently took the hand of the still crying Shiro as they too made their way to the clubhouse, trying to comfort him the best he could. They were closely followed by the rest of the team. Everyone wanted to make sure their captain was going to be alright.

Mamori stood as nailed to the ground. She hadn't moved an inch since Hiruma fainted. Doburoku walked over to his side, his hands behind his back and a serious look on his face.

"Next time, Mamori nee-san.. You might want to think a little further about your actions before coming with such a serious accusation." He said, never looking the still unmoving girl in the eyes. Then he too hurried to the clubhouse to check up on the currently unconscious blond quarterback.

**Whhheeew! This took soooooo long to write D: I hope it was worth the wait though and that you enjoyed this chapter :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**YAAAAY an update! Oh God please don't kill me I know it has been way too long since I last updated, but the important thing is that I DID update now right? Anyway I'm soooo sorry it took so long you guys, but I still hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

**Oh and again, there's going to be A LOT (and I mean a lot!) of Mamori hate in this chapter also, just so you know!**

**Revelations: **

"How… Alright?"

".. Exhaustion.. Too much…"

"… Stressed.."

Hiruma grunted in discomfort as the peaceful darkness that surrounded him was disturbed by distant pieces of conversation. All he wanted was to slip back into the inviting darkness of unconsciousness, but it was already too late to return. He could already feel the pain of his bruised and weary body slowly slipping back into his awareness and he could feel a sharp light shining down upon him from above, making him squint his eyes in annoyance. Suddenly he could feel something cool being pressed against the side of his head where the burning bruise still flamed on his skin and let out another slight grunt at the feeling.

"Look! I think he is waking up!"

He heard a voice exclaim from somewhere above him. Knowing now that is was completely futile to try and fall back asleep the blonde decided to try and fully bring himself back to the life of the living and see what in the world was going on. He slowly opened his eyes with difficulty as his eyelids felt like lead. When he finally succeeded the sharp light coming from above completely blinded him for the first couple of seconds, but as his eyes quickly adjusted he could see a mass of heads, all belonging to his teammates, surrounding him, looking down at him, all with worried looks on their faces.

Still kind of hazy minded Hiruma felt confusion. Where was he? And why were all his teammates hovering above him? How in the world did he end up here to begin with? All these questions only made his head hurt even more, but it did nothing to stop his confusion. The last thing he remembered was being out on the field, coaching the team and then.. His mind went blank. But before Hiruma could gather his blurry thoughts any further a young worried voice cut through the masses:

"Nii-san!"

Even in his hazy state of mind Hiruma immediately recognized his little brother's voice.

"S-Shiro..?" Hiruma rasped in confusion, what was Shiro doing here? _"Oh, wait.. That's right.. He came with the forgotten game plans earlier didn't he, but.. That still doesn't explain where I am or what happened"_ Hiruma thought, but now fond that his growing confusion did very little to help the throbbing inside his skull.

Shiro quickly pushed his way through the thick crowd of football players that surrounded the bench where his nii-san was currently laying. He finally reached Hiruma and gripped his brother's red nr. 1 T-shirt tightly, his eyes wide with a mixture of worry and relief.

"Nii-san, I'm so glad you're awake."

Hiruma turned his head to look into his brother's eyes and immediately felt bad for being the course of his brother's obvious worry.

"You really gave us a scare back there Hiruma-kun." Doburoku said with a smile and leaned over the still laying teen so that he could see him.

"What the hell happened?" Hiruma groaned and took himself to the head as the throbbing continued to increase.

With all his teammates, little brother and coach in the room Hiruma expected that someone would be quick to provide him with an answer to his question. He was therefore slightly surprised to find the entire room becoming uncomfortable silent at his question and he could see several of his teammate's bending their heads, looking either uncomfortable, angry or disappointed while deliberately avoiding his gaze, clearly not wanting to answer his question.

"You don't remember Hiruma?" Musashi asked gently. His eyes were a mixture of worry towards Hiruma and anger towards a certain someone else.

"If I could remember then why in the world would I ask old man?" Hiruma said quite annoyed. Why wouldn't somebody just tell him how he in the bloody hell ended up in here, on a bench, with an entire football team staring at him and with one hell of a headache?!

In the end though, Shiro was the one who stepped up;

"It was that stupid tall lady nii-san! She hit you and then she said.. She said some really nasty things about you! And you got really angry and.. And suddenly you just collapsed! I was so scared!" Shiro rambled and tears started to gather in his eyes once again. Kurita put a gentle hand on the young boys shoulder for comfort.

And suddenly it all came back to Hiruma. He remembered.. He remembered how that damn fucking manager had accused him of physically abusing Shiro and how he had completely _snapped_. Also, he remembered how he was suddenly overcome by exhaustion which, he concluded from his current position, had caused him to black out.

Suddenly, Hiruma was very much aware of the many eyes that rested on him and to his fright he found them all filled with pity.

Hiruma did _not _want nor accept any form of pity from anyone. He was the captain of this team! He is supposed to be the strong unwavering leader! This was simply not acceptable, he had to do something now!

Without warning Hiruma sat straight up, willing the intense dizziness and urge to throw up away and moved to stand, only to have a large, rough hand placed on his shoulder.

"Hiruma you need to lay back down, you're clearly not well." Musashi said in a worried and yet strict voice.

Hiruma however ignored this and pushed the offending hand off his shoulder.

"I'm fine!" Hiruma growled angrily and stood despite protests from several of his teammates and Doburoku as he staggered dangerously.

"I'm fucking fine I tell you! Training is over for today, I want to see everybody on the field tomorrow morning for practice or else! Come Shiro, we're going home! NOW!" Hiruma barked angrily. Hiruma just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. He _hated _being and feeling this weak in front of his teammates and brother! He had to get away.

Shiro looked slightly scared at his nii-san. His brother never used such a hard tone when talking to him. And besides, Shiro could easily see, as well as everybody else in the room, that his brother was in no shape to be up and about. Heavy bags lined his brother's usually sharp eyes, he was unsteady on his legs and he looked like he would collapse any minute, just like he had done earlier and that was the last thing Shiro wanted to happen.

"B-But nii-san.." Shiro stammered, not knowing what to do or say.

Luckily Musashi and Doburoku stepped in front of the boy to take over.

"Hiruma listen to me, you need to lay down before you hurt yourself any further!" The old looking teen said, glaring slightly at Hiruma who was being way too stubborn.

"Musashi is right Hiruma-kun. It wouldn't be responsibly of me as your coach and teacher to let you leave in your condition." Doburoku said in a matter of fact voice, but being dead serious.

"I told you I'm fine! I can take fucking care of myself! I do not need any of your pity!" Hiruma spat at the two men in front of him.

"We do not pity you Hiruma! We're concerned about you and worried about your health! We all are!" Musashi countered irritably with a gesture throughout the room.

Hiruma fell silent for a moment as he looked around him, maybe.. Just maybe! The old man was right for once. Maybe he had misread his teammates' looks as pity instead of worry and while he still was _very _uncomfortable with being the center of everyone's worry, he guessed it wasn't as bad being the receiver of pity. After all, despite his cold attitude Hiruma always worried (granted in his own special way) for his team when they were playing a rough match, but most of all he found himself worrying about the wellbeing of Shiro almost all the time. He was no stranger to the feeling of worrying for friends and family..

"Nii-san.."

Hiruma was pulled out of his train of thoughts by the sound of Shiro's voice and the feeling of a gentle tug in his arm. Looking down he found Shiro, holding his arm and looking up at him with a slightly pleading look.

"Nii-san.. Please listen to uncle Musashi.. I don't want you to be unwell again.. Please?"

Seeing the worried and slightly scared look on his younger brother's face finally seemed to pull Hiruma back to his senses. This was exactly what he had hoped to avoid, the last thing Hiruma wanted was to make his brother worry about him. Shiro was still so young. He shouldn't have to worry about things like this and it was Hiruma's job, as his older brother and caretaker, to make sure he wouldn't have to. A job he apparently hadn't been good enough to complete seeing how worried his poor brother looked right now.

With a small sigh of defeat Hiruma allowed Shiro to lead him back to the bench and seated himself once again, secretly relieved that his dizziness decreased significantly as he did. Shiro seated himself right beside his older brother.

Doburoku walked over with an icepack wrapped in a towel, which Hiruma assumed had been source of the cool pressure he had felt on the side of his face when he had woken. Without a word Hiruma accepted the icepack and held it gently against his still burning bruise on his face, winching while silently cursing the damn manager for having to hit him square on his old bruise his father had provided him, thinking that if this kept up he would end up having a permanent bruise right there.

The earlier tension in the room quietly vanished as the Devil bats were relieved to see that their captain at least seemed to be more cooperative now. They all really just wanted to see their leader back on his feet, because honestly, they knew they would never stand a chance winning their upcoming battle against the Poseidons without Hiruma and his tactical genius and passing skills. Much could be said about Hiruma, but he had always been the greatest leader a football team could wish for and though it was rarely voiced, they all did consider their devil captain a friend. So naturally they had all worried when they saw their captain pass out right in front of them. Now they just wished and hoped that he would recover completely soon.

But just as everything seemed to be more or less at ease again the door to the clubhouse slowly opened, making everyone's head, including Hiruma's, turn to see who was coming. When they saw the tension in the room returned tenfold and Hiruma felt rage slowly rising inside of himself once again, by the sight of the newcomer. Fidgeting nervously in doorway was no other than Mamori Anezaki. She looked very guilty and slightly scared as everyone's eyes fixed on her. There were several awkward moments of silence before the sound of something dropping to the floor made everyone's head turn again.

It turned out that the item that had been dropped to the floor was the icepack, Hiruma had been holding against his bruise, as he abruptly stood up glaring angrily at the only woman in the room.

"What the hell do you want? Come to accuse me of more horrible cruelties that I've no doubt committed?!" Hiruma sneered. He still hadn't forgiven the manager for what she had accused him for earlier. He did _not _take likely being accused of hurting the single most precious thing to him in his entire world.

Besides Hiruma Shiro also glared at the lady who had said such horrible things and hurt his beloved nii-san. Hiruma was the absolutely only one from his family that had always been there for him, taking care of him, protected him from their abusive father and everything else. And this lady had dared hurting his nii-san! That he would never forgive.

Mamori visibly flinched at the harsh words looking, if possible, even guiltier than before. But before she got to say anything Musashi stepped in between, looking at the smaller girl with a mix of anger and disappointment.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here right now Mamori, please leave." The kicker said with an icy voice.

Finally Mamori seemed to snap somewhat out of her guilt haze.

"P-Please I.. I came to apologize.. I really didn't mean to…"

"Maybe not!" Musashi interrupted sharply.

"But I'm afraid what you did and said cannot be forgiven with a simple apology." He added more calmly, but still with a look of disregard on his face.

Mamori looked pleadingly around the room, hoping someone would stand up for her, but to her dismay she only saw the looks of disappointment and disbelief on everybody's faces. Even Monta, who had always admired and adored her romantically, eyed her with a sad and accusing look and couldn't even look her in the eyes at the moment.

This caused a fresh weave of pain and blame to wash over the normally perfect and beloved manager. Why wouldn't anyone help her out? Yes, she knew that hitting and accusing Hiruma of being abusive towards his brother had been wrong, very wrong of her. But surely she couldn't have been the only one to have suspected it when seeing Shiro's bruised cheek and cut lip! After all, everybody knew Hiruma had a violent and devil like nature, so at the time it had seemed like the only and most rational explanation. She did what she did because she wanted to protect an innocent child from harm, was that really so bad? In reality, wasn't Hiruma to blame too? If he wasn't so violent and scary all the time she would have never accused him of being abusive in the first place. And now, when she finally had worked up her courage to come and actually apologize they wouldn't let her. Besides, wasn't Hiruma being a bit of a drama queen? It wasn't like she hit him _that _hard, certainly not hard enough for him to pass out like that. She bet he faked it just to make her look even worse! She would not accept that!

"No you have to listen to me!" Mamori said angrily and pushed Musashi harshly out of her way before he could react. She stomped all the way over to stand right in front of Hiruma, who still glared at her dangerously, fighting hard not to let his anger get the better of him and tell the damn woman off himself. But Mamori had by now completely convinced herself, with her own little mental pep-talk, that she had to be right and that Hiruma needed to drop his little act.

"Listen Hiruma, I admit it was rash and wrong of me to accuse you of.. Such a thing and I'm sorry that I hit you, but that doesn't give you the right to try and expose me as the bad guy!" The brown haired girl whined offended.

Shiro, who still stood beside his nii-san, couldn't help but jump up at this. He had tried to keep himself from jumping that mean lady from the moment she walked in the door because he knew his brother wouldn't want him to get involved, but he wasn't just going to sit back at let her say such things to his brother again!

"Don't talk to my nii-san like that stupid lady! If you touch him again I'll.." But Shiro didn't get to finish his otherwise well planned speech of how he would make the lady deeply regret if she hurt his nii-san again. Instead he felt a large hand settle on his shoulder and squeeze gently, signaling he should stop talking. Following the arm with his eyes all the way up to its owner showed that it was his brother who had done the gesture.

"That's enough Shiro. Your nii-san will handle this, alright?" Hiruma said as he looked down as Shiro, standing at his side. His voice was calm and patient this time and Shiro found himself obeying his nii-san's wish, not wanting to cause him any more trouble.

When Hiruma was sure Shiro wouldn't speak up again his glare returned towards the still offended looking manager in front of him, mentally preparing himself for yet another row with the annoying and uptight woman.

"And in which part of all this _aren't _you the bad guy?" The devil captain snarled, already feeling exhausted about having to deal with this woman yet again.

Mamori crossed her arms in offence as she continued;

"Well I admit what I did was wrong, but at least I don't act like a coward and fake faints to make everyone take my side! I did _not _hit you that hard you know!"

At that comment Hiruma felt like he had just been hit once again square in the chest. It was bad enough that he had fainted in front of his friends to begin with since he hated to show weakness. But to be accused to have faked it, in a humiliating attempt to win over empathy, when the truth was that he had suffered through almost unbearable physical and emotional stress of having to deal with an abusive, alcoholic father, leaving said father, having to find a new home for Shiro and himself. All the while keeping up all his responsibilities as an older brother and caretaker as well as being a high school student, team captain and quarterback of the Deamon Devil Bats – all this in a span of mere days.

Even the thought of doing, to be accused, of something so degrading made Hiruma so sick and angry he couldn't even find any words to voice his anger and so he just stood silent with wide eyes.

When he did not answer Mamori found herself smirking slightly in satisfaction.

"Silence gives consent." She said with slightly smugly, pleased with herself that she had exposed his little scam.

Everyone in the room looked at Mamori with shock and disbelief. After a few seconds of complete silence Musashi finally snapped out of his shocked state, not truly wanting to believe that Mamori, who was usually so nice and caring had said such a thing to his best friend. She had, once again, lashed out with yet another absurd accusation without any kind of proof to base anything on. If she only knew the truth of Hiruma's current state she wouldn't stand with that smug look on her face! His shock quickly turned into fury though and stepped forward, intending to throw the woman out himself if he had to.

"THAT'S IT MAMORI! I WANT YOU OUT OF HERE, NOW!" Musashi roared and grasped the girl around her arms and waist from behind, fully intending to take her outside and make her leave. But Mamori wouldn't go without a fight this time.

"No! Can't you see he's just playing with you all so you'll take his side?! Let me go!" Mamori wailed stubbornly and started squirming in the kicker's arms, but with no avail.

"I said .GO!" As she uttered the last syllable of her sentence Mamori kicked out as hard as she could in a last attempt to get free of Musashi's hold around her. It didn't go as plan as her kicking did nothing to loosen Musashi's grasp. Instead, unintentionally, her boot made hard connection to Hiruma's chest right in front of her.

At the sudden hard impact to his badly bruised ribs, from his earlier brawl with his father, Hiruma feel to the ground with a sharp cry of pain and took himself to his chest where the pain was most intense. He wanted to curse himself for allowing himself to show so much weakness right in front of his friends, but the pain of his bruised rips was just too strong even for him to ignore at this point.

Somewhere above him he could hear Shiro call out to him in worry and several of his teammates grasp in surprise and worry at the sight of what had just happened.

Musashi didn't as much see as he _heard _the impact of Mamori's boot connecting with Hiruma's chest and the pained cry that followed closely. Musashi immediately put down the squirming girl in his arms and rushed to Hiruma's side to check if he was okay.

"Shit!" The kicker exclaimed worried.

Doburoku followed closely after.

Shiro was already kneeling at his nii-san's side, not liking how his brother's eyes were clenched shut in pain or the shallow breaths that escaped his mouth.

"Nii-san, are you alright?!" The young boy asked the slight panic evident in his voice. He knew it was a stupid question. It was obvious to anybody that his brother wasn't all alright at the moment as he clearly couldn't even gather enough breath to form an answer, but Shiro just didn't know what else to say. His worry towards his older brother completely overshadowed his ability to think clearly.

Musashi put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It's okay Shiro, your nii-san will be fine, but you have to step back for a moment okay?" The man explained calmly to the wide eyed boy who immediately did as he was told, trusting Musashi completely.

"Kurita, help me to lift Hiruma back up on the bench." Musashi ordered his friend.

Together, Kurita and Musashi was able to lift Hiruma back up to lay on the bench without moving or aggravating his rips too much, but still earning a pained groan from the blonde in the process.

"Hiruma, how bad is it?" Musashi asked lowly, eyeing his friend's still pained expression with worry.

"Does it look.. Like I'm having the.. Time of my life here?! What the hell do.. You think.. Old man!" Hiruma wheezed between shallow breaths.

"I'll go fetch another icepack and some bandages. Those ribs need a cold pressure and then we must lay a compression bandage to help with the support." Doburoku stated, hiding his own worry beneath a mask of professionalism, before he walked away to find the needed items.

From the sidelines Mamori was getting tired of this never ending act Hiruma seemed to be insisting to maintain.

"Oh please, I barely hit him. This just proves he's faking it all!" She said irritated, not satisfied by being made to look like the bad one once again.

Musashi had just about had it with Mamori, but not wanting to leave Hiruma's side he couldn't do much else than sending her a death glare across the room. If looks could kill…

"When will you get it through your thick head Mamori?! He is not faking! This is no fucking joke!" Musashi growled angrily.

Mamori was still not convinced though, but just then Doburoku came back with a new icepack wrapped in a towel and a couple of rolls of white bandages.

"Alright, let's take a look and see how bad it is." The team coach said grimly. Having a bad feeling about what he was about to see.

Though Hiruma felt like he should protest he simply didn't have the strength anymore and wanted nothing more than the sharp pain in his chest to subside. He therefor, wisely, chose to not pick any more fights and just allowed Musashi to pull up his T-shirt to reveal the nasty bruises hidden underneath.

A horrified gasp ran through the room as everybody for the first time saw the true extent of Hiruma's injuries. Mamori especially let out a loud gasp when she saw that the entire left side of Hiruma's torso was completely covered with dark shades of black and blue bruises.

"Oh my God…" She whispered as tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes.

Shiro, who sat on the bench right behind where his nii-san's head was resting already had tears trailing down his cheeks, burdened with the knowledge that it was their own father who had done this to his brother.

Hiruma saw and slowly lifted one of his arms to rest on his younger brother's shoulder in an act of comfort.

"There Shiro, a little warrior like you doesn't cry over a little nothing like this does he?" The blonde said comforting and put on the most reassuring smile he could muster at the moment, in hopes of lessening the sad look on Shiro's face.

Shiro quickly dried his tears the best he could with the edge of his sleeve, but couldn't help letting a few stray tears continued to fall every now and then.

"No.. I'm sorry nii-san.. I just don't like it when you're hurt…" Shiro whispered.

"It's okay Shiro, your nii-san is though, I'm alright I promise you." Hiruma said, happy when he saw a small smile spreading on Shiro's face.

But as the icepack was settled against his bruised skin Hiruma couldn't help a small sharp hiss of pain escaping through clenched teeth.

"My God.. What in the world happened to you Hiruma-san?" Sena asked worriedly as the first, though the question was burning on everybody's lips.

Hiruma's and Musashi's eyes met. The kicker pressed his lips into a thin line before saying;

"If you don't tell them I will…" With a voice that made it very clear that he was more than willing to make truth of that statement.

Hiruma let out a sigh of defeat. Guess there was no point in trying to keep this a secret any longer. He had known he would've had to tell his team anyway sooner or later, he had just wished it could have been under different circumstances.

"Fine.. Listen up you idiots. Until recently Shiro and I lived with our father, he was an alcoholic and five days ago when I came home I found him physically abusing my younger brother. Immediately after I found out Shiro and I left the house for good, there was no way I could and would allow my father to hurt him again."

A loud sob sounded from the corner.

"So the bruise on his cheek.. And.. And his cut lip.. T-That was…" Mamori stammered as tears rapidly ran down her face.

"Yes, it was our father who did it fucking manager, not me!"

Another sob sounded, but Hiruma ignored it as he continued his explanation.

"We've lived with Musashi for a couple of days until I could arrange a new place for us to live."

Hiruma paused his story as he sat up to allow Doburoku wrapping up his chest in tight bandages to help support his ribs.

"S-So the reason you forgot our meeting.. That was b-because.." Mamori once again sobbed in the corner.

"Because I had a hell lot of other more important things to deal with at the time!" Hiruma said with repressed anger before he continued his telling.

"But yesterday, when Musashi and I went back to the house to pick up our clothes and belongings my father got angry with me and knocked me down from behind. He beat up, not giving me much of a chance to defend myself which is how I ended up like this." The quarterback said and indicated his bruised body.

The entire room had fallen silent, except the wet sobs coming from the corner where Mamori stood, having finally realized how absolutely terrible she had been acting now that she knew the truth.

Everyone looked and felt sad hearing how much Hiruma had gone through without them knowing, nobody among them hadn't even known that their captain had a younger brother, but seeing how protective and caring Hiruma was towards Shiro, even in the short amount they had known, left no doubt with any of them that Hiruma truly was a great older brother.

Seeing the sea of sad looking faces Hiruma stood, now that his ribs was bandaged up, to face his team and placed a hand on the head of his brother's head.

"Wipe off those pathetic crybaby faces you idiots! As you can see we're going to be fine! Our father is out of the picture and Shiro and I have started a new life together far away from the bastard. That means that our entire focus now lies in getting ready to face off with the Poseidons in just three weeks and you ladies aren't anywhere near ready to take those guys on! We have to work double pace to make it and that means blood, sweat and tears do you understand?" Hiruma commanded. To his surprise he felt an almost overwhelming relief having finally told his friends and teammates. It was a relief knowing he didn't need to go and try to hide any secrets anymore and he felt more of less like himself again.

Apparently his little pep talk helped a lot as the players seemed to be able to recognize their good old devil captain once again and began cheering in agreement and Shiro giggled as his brother ruffled his hair, glad that everything looked like to be okay, just as his nii-san had always promised.

Musashi couldn't help but smirk slightly from his spot at Hiruma's side, he too relieved that Hiruma had finally decided to reveal the truth. He had always believed that telling the truth would get you furthest.

As the cheering slowly died down Hiruma suddenly felt a gentle poke on his right shoulder. When he turned he found himself once again standing face to face with the damn manager. Hiruma's gaze turned ice cold, but he still turned fully just to hear what the woman possibly had left to say to him.

Tears were still streaming down her cheeks as Mamori looked up into the cold, burning gaze of Hiruma's eyes.

H-Hiruma.. I.. I don't know what to s-say…" She chocked between small sobs while she desperately searched for words that make up for everything she had said and done this day, but nothing came to mind.

"Don't say anything." Hiruma said calmly, but it wasn't hard to miss the venom hidden right underneath.

"I don't want to hear anything more coming from your mouth today. I expect you tomorrow morning at practice, understood?"

Mamori's sniffed and her eyes fell to the floor, but nodded in understanding before silently exiting the clubhouse.

Suddenly aware of the silence in the room Hiruma turned to see everybody had watched the scene, but it was obvious from their looks that they held very little sympathy for Mamori.

Doburoku let out a small chough to get everyone's attention.

"Well I believe that is it for today, everybody should get home and get some rest, we have morning practice tomorrow as you all know."

And with that said everybody slowly started to gather their things and left one by one. Several gave their captain a reassuring pat on the shoulder on their way out or sent him and Shiro a crooked smile before leaving.

Finally when only Hiruma, Shiro, Musashi, Kurita and Doburoku remained Hiruma let out a huge sigh and rested his head in one of his hands while pressing his index finger against his temple, massaging it gently.

"Are you alright nii-san?" Shiro asked for what seemed the millionth time in the boy's head.

Hiruma smiled and reached out to ruffle his brother's hair a bit.

"Yeah I'm fine Shiro. Nii-san is just a little tired." Hiruma mumbled quietly. This day had really taken its toll on him and by know he felt utterly exhausted and a headache was throbbing inside his skull as a result from the mix of the recent stress and drama.

"Want me to drive you guys home?" Musashi asked and squeezed his friends shoulder.

The mere thought of walking home right now seemed so absurdly impossible that Hiruma merely nodded his head as answer.

"You know Hiruma-kun, I really think you did the right thing telling everyone what has happened." Kurita said and smiled at his long-term friend.

Hiruma didn't say anything. He agreed with Kurita, he thought so too, but that didn't mean he wanted to voice it.

"Training will proceed as planned, but I want you to take it easy for the time being Hiruma, you need to allow your body to regenerate properly before you can start up your normal training routine again." Doburoku said with a voice that left no room for any discussion on the matter.

"Tch, whatever.." Hiruma said, but he knew his couch was right so there really wasn't any point in trying to argue about it.

After pulling on his dress T-shirt Hiruma smiled at his younger brother.

"Ready to go home Shiro?" He asked.

Shiro smiled widely and jumped from the bench he was sitting on.

"Of cause nii-san!"

And the two brothers and Musashi walked out toward the car together. What they didn't notice was the dark figure, hiding in the bushes eyeing them with a snarl on his face…

**Will Hiruma and the Devil bats ever forgive Mamori? And who is this mysterious man hiding in the shadows? Who knows? **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **


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